Nairobi, Feb 15 (IANS): Over 260,000 primary and secondary teachers in Kenya vowed Thursday to go on strike starting next week due to non-implementation of the salary agreement their union reached with the government last September.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers' (KNUT) top decision-making National Executive Council (NEC) ratified the decision in Nairobi and resolved to resort to industry action from Tuesday, reported Xinhua.

KNUT acting secretary general Xavier Nyamu said the seven-day notice will lapse Feb 18 setting the stage for teachers to keep off the schools. The strike will affect secondary schools especially joining the Form One classes whose reporting day starts Feb 18 to 25.

Kenya has about 10 million students in primary schools and about 2 million in secondary schools.

Nyamu said they are not calling for a strike because of the impending election but to demand for teachers' rights. Knut chairman Wilson Sossion called on teachers to further prepare teachers for the strike.