In a new effort to break the impasse in the teachers' dispute, the Minister for Education, Dr Woods, has signalled he is available for further talks with the ASTI.
Official sources have also ruled out any possible threat to the Junior and Leaving Cert oral exams, which begin shortly. "The exams will be entirely unaffected," one education source predicted yesterday.
On the second day of the ASTI ban on supervision, there were reports last night of stones being hurled at a teacher's car in a Munster school.
There was also some disruption in schools in the west. One school in Castlebar, Co Mayo, was forced to close after a number of teachers rang in sick. ASTI sources said the teachers had been distressed by unruly incidents in the school on Monday. There was no question of members organising a "chalk flu", they said.
Official sources yesterday said the Minister's offer of negotiations on the €34-an-hour offer for supervision and a process to examine the question of making all payments pensionable was still on the table. Sources said the Minister was waiting to hear from the ASTI but the union had not been in contact.
Staging the oral exams presents huge logistical problems for the Department of Education and schools. School principals release up to 2,000 teachers, who travel to other schools to conduct the exams.
There is concern that the ASTI ban on supervision/substitution could place an intolerable burden on schools.
But this was dismissed by education sources. One said: " We are happy that all arrangements will be in place to run the oral exams smoothly."
The ASTI is not planning a further meeting of its 180-member central executive until its annual conference next month. However, its powerful 23-member standing committee is due to meet next week to review the dispute.
The ASTI is refusing to negotiate on the supervision issue until its overall pay claim is settled. It also wants retrospective supervision payments for retired teachers, something Dr Woods will not even consider.
Last night the two other teachers' unions, INTO and the TUI - which expressed satisfaction with the outcome of negotiations on the supervision issue last week - called on the Minister to convene an early meeting on the issue.
In a letter to Dr Woods, the INTO general-secretary-designate, Mr John Carr, and the TUI general secretary, Mr Jim Dorney, say they were anxious to make progress on the issue quickly.
Relations between the ASTI and the other teaching unions are now strained after INTO general secretary Senator Joe O'Toole claimed the union was run by a small clique. Members of the TUI leadership have also been critical of ASTI. If TUI members accept the improved supervision offer - they rejected the original offer last month - this could place more pressure on the ASTI.
Barring some unexpected development, education sources expect the supervision dispute to continue until the end of the school year.
About 10 post offices were affected yesterday by an industrial dispute over a regrading and pay restructuring claim by An Post clerks, members of the Communications Workers Union. A spokesman for An Post said some offices opened for business late, causing queues to develop. The first Tuesday of the month is particularly busy as child benefit claims are paid. An Post has referred the dispute to the Labour Relations Commission.