All schools in Honduras were forced to suspend classes on Monday as teachers went on a strike following a military coup on Sunday in which President Manuel Zelaya was ousted.

Teachers in all cities on Monday announced a strike and took to the streets to voice their support for Zelaya.

Eulogia Chavez, president of a secondary school in Honduras, told Xinhua his school had been forced to close for two days, and all students were asked to stay home. Chavez said he was not sure when classes would resume.

Hundreds of troops stormed the presidential residence in Honduras' capital Tegucigalpa in the early hours on Sunday. Zelaya was put on a plane and sent into exile in Costa Rica.

Honduras' congress named speaker Roberto Micheletti as the interim president. He has imposed a curfew.

Meanwhile, Zelaya, who is attending an emergency meeting of regional leaders in the Nicaraguan capital of Managua, said on Monday that he would return to Honduras on Thursday.

Zelaya said he planned to travel on Tuesday to Washington for a meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS), and then return to Honduras on Thursday along with OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza.

(Xinhua News Agency June 30, 2009)