Lalitpur: Institutional School Teachers' Union (ISTU) today announced to shut down all institutional schools in Kathmandu Valley tomorrow.

ISTU and other organisations -- including Nepal Educational Republic Forum, Teachers' Union of Nepal, All Nepal Teachers' Organisation, Nepal School Employees Council, Nepal National Teachers' Organisation, Teachers' Association of Nepal and Guardians' Association Nepal -- today shut down all community and institutional schools in Lalitpur.

The ISTU has been protesting the Jawalakhel-based St Xavier's School's decision to sack its teachers Binayak Chhetri, Mukesh Mishra and Buddhi Subedi. Yesterday, it announced to shut down the school indefinitely. The ISTU has asked the school management to reinstate the sacked teachers, apologise to them and compensate them. They have also demanded the school management to maintain transparency in admission process and end its monopoly in recruiting and sacking teachers.

MB Basnet, president of Lalitpur chapter of ISTU, said they would shut the community and institutional schools in Lalitpur tomorrow as well. "However, we will shut only the institutional schools of Bhaktapur and Kathmandu tomorrow," he added.

Meanwhile, the Lalitpur chapter of ISTU today organised a rally from Namuna Machhindra College. The rally converged into a sit-in in front of District Education Office, Lalitpur. The sit-in continued for two hours.

Basnet informed that they would gherao the Department of Education tomorrow.