President William Ruto will on Friday meet the top leadership and branch officials of teachers’ unions and associations at State House Nairobi, the Nation has established.
The meeting is expected to draw more than 3,000 representatives from the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut), Kenya Primary Schools Heads Association (Kepsha), Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) and the Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association (Kessha).
According to sources privy to the planning, senior government officials will also attend, including representatives from the Ministry of Education, the Teachers Service Commission and agencies such as the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development.
However, Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers (Kusnet) Secretary-General Joshua Torome said his union had not received an invitation. Kusnet has the smallest membership among the unions.
The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) Secretary General Collins Oyuu.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
Knut Secretary-General Collins Oyuu confirmed receipt of the State House invite but noted that no agenda had been shared.
“It’s generally to do with issues that are common. Visiting the President doesn’t have an agenda; he’s the one who sets it. But we shall present our issues on the floor,” Mr Oyuu said.
Yesterday, Mr Oyuu wrote to all 110 branch secretaries informing them of the planned meeting with President Ruto.
“The purpose of this notice is to enable you to prepare your teams, which will include all branch executive committee members and a sample few of your school representatives, as you shall be guided by a correspondence to be released to you in the course of the day,” his letter read.
Kuppet Secretary-General Akello Misori also confirmed that union officials will attend the meeting, describing it as a “stakeholder consultation to discuss issues not labour-related”.
Kuppet Secretary-General Akello Misori.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
He said some of these issues had been raised earlier during the national dialogue on education reforms held in Nairobi in April.
“We had made a request a long time ago [to meet the President]. Only the Cabinet Secretary and the President can address some issues,” Mr Misori said.
Kepsha chairperson Fuad Ali told the Nation that his association’s top leadership met over the weekend to review the invitation. On Sunday, he wrote to members of the national governing council requesting personal details of those who would attend the meeting.
“The Kepsha delegation will comprise the following: national executive board, national governing council, four representatives per sub-county—chairperson, secretary, treasurer, gender representative—and the national secretariat. Deadline for submission is Monday, September 9, 2025, by close of business,” reads the memo.
“It’s an educational sort of workshop. We want to look at issues of funding education, CBE [Competency-Based Education] as we transition to senior school, and why we’re moving from Nemis [National Education Management Information System]to Kemis [Kenya Education Management Information System]. We requested to meet him. We need a dialogue with him and his team. Everyone [unions and associations] has their issues. We’ll consolidate the points and then have one of us present them,” Mr Ali explained.
A Kuppet branch secretary who spoke to the Nation said one of the union’s main issues is the leadership of junior schools, which are currently headed by primary school headteachers.
“Kuppet has been pushing for senior teachers in secondary schools to be appointed to head junior schools,” he said.
