For thousands of Leaving Certificate students the anxious wait continues. They still do not know if they will be sitting examinations in June.
If they do, the question is who will be supervising them and who will be marking their papers.
While the Minister for Education, Dr Woods, said yesterday that the examination would take place, there is still huge uncertainty. If the ASTI's 16,000 members refuse to take part in the examination, who will replace them? The options for Dr Woods are limited.
While it would be possible to get members of the public to supervise the exams and act as invigilators, the real difficulty will be with the marking of the papers.
Parents, understandably, want their children's papers marked professionally by properly qualified people.
One option the Department of Education is studying is to use third-level students.
A small number of third-level students marked some Junior Certificate papers last year and there was fury among parents.
What would happen if the Department gave the whole marking system over to people who have never taught in a secondary school classroom?
The Leaving Certificate students themselves might not be too enthralled at this prospect. They would worry that in future years people might sneer at their grades and question their authenticity.
If Dr Woods does not go down this route, he may consider the thousands of secondary teachers who are members of the TUI.
While some TUI executive members have already said they will not do examination work if the ASTI pulls out, the union has not formulated an official policy yet.
If even some TUI members agree to do exam work as normal, Dr Woods might have the makings of a solution.
He needs only about 7,000 examiners to mark the papers and take the orals and practicals. A few thousand TUI members and an assortment of retired teachers, postgraduates and other people with specialist knowledge might be enough.
But as he said himself yesterday, nobody wants this type of solution.
One way Dr Woods could lift the pressure on his Department is to call off the Junior Certificate completely. This would also outrage parents whose children have been studying for the examination for the last two years. But it would reduce the Government's logistical problems.
Some senior sources have already predicted that the Junior Certificate will be jettisoned this year, but it will be an absolute last resort, they caution.
The Department of Education has been talking for several years about switching to a continuous assessment system. Reports could be compiled from existing school grades in second and third year.
The immediate problem is that oral and practical examinations take place early next month. While ASTI members have put their names forward to carry out the orals, they may decide to pull out of them after tomorrow's meeting of their central executive council.
This would leave the Department with its first logistical crisis. The only way around it might be to postpone the orals/ practicals for another month or two and hope that a solution appears in the meantime.
Either way, this year's Leaving Certificate classes are not going to have it easy and most people will be sympathetic as they face such uncertainties.