Settling down to the weekly grind

As the exams approach, parents are under increasing pressure to spend money on expensive grinds. It's big business, reports Gráinne Faller.

Saturday morning, and Leeson Street in Dublin is thronged with teenagers. The fashions are as varied as the students themselves, but they aren't in town to shop.

Theirs is the serious business of study, and at 9 o'clock they disappear into the Institute of Education to begin their Leaving Cert revision classes.

This isn't just a Dublin phenomenon. Like the Institute of Education, Bruce College in Cork provides grind classes, revision courses and study facilities for secondary school students.

Micheál Landers, principal of the college, says the demand for extra tuition is increasing all the time. He says: "As well as our full-time students, we have part-time students going through the college nearly every day of the week for grinds and study. They travel from all parts of Munster and our revision courses are always full."

There are a number of reasons for this growth. Landers says: "The points system drives the demand. I think that affluence is also a factor. People now have money that they are willing to spend on their children's education. They want to give them a better chance of securing a college place."

Dr Raymond Kearns, director of the Institute of Education, has another theory. "When third-level fees were abolished, there was an explosion in the number of students coming into the institute. Parents are prepared to pay for tuition, in order to get the extra grades to go to university and avail of three or four years of free education."

Not everyone subscribes to these views. John White of the ASTI says: "I think that there is an element of panic over the points race. There's almost a fear among parents who want to do the very best for their children. They don't want them to lose out so they pay for the grinds."

This extra tuition is not cheap, and parents can feel the strain.

Eleanor Petrie, president of the National Parents' Council, says: "There is extra pressure on parents who can't afford extra tuition. The students feel the pressure too. If their parents can't afford grinds they won't ask for them, even if they feel they need the extra help."

Raymond Kearns says: "That's the one area that I feel bad about. When university fees were abolished, people thought disadvantaged students would get more of an opportunity, when in fact nothing could be farther from the truth. Disadvantaged students simply cannot afford to come to schools like the Institute of Education and the gap between advantage and disadvantage is widening."

But do these courses actually give an advantage to students who can afford them? Principal director of the Limerick Tutorial Centre, Dr John O'Halloran is adamant: "There is no doubt but it works. It varies from year to year, but out of 270 students, 19 got more than the points necessary for medicine last year."

The ASTI's John White disagrees. He says: "If a pupil works carefully and assiduously at school and maintains a reasonable level of work, there should be no need for extra tuition. However, in exceptional circumstances, such as if a pupil was sick and missed the basics of a course, extra tuition might be warranted."

It seems that parents and students agree with John O'Halloran's view of things and the culture of extra tuition is here to stay.

Last August, a survey conducted by Student Enrichment Services found that 64 per cent of Leaving Cert students were getting grinds.

Micheál Landers is matter-of-fact about this: "The points system in itself leads people to want better grades. They will do their best to achieve those with or without the availability of extra tuition."

Sometimes, the need for grinds can stem from more than just the pressure of the points system.

Eleanor Petrie says: "If there's a poor teacher in a school who, for whatever reason, is not doing their job properly, students in that class will get grinds in that subject if they can.

"The problem is that because of those grinds, results in that class will be fine and the teacher will be congratulated when in fact the grinds teachers should get the credit.

"The result is that the teacher continues as normal and nothing can be done about the fact that their job is not being done properly."

John White isn't so sure. "That may or may not happen. There may be a circumstance within a school where students feel they're not learning but I really think it would be a small minority."

That said, Raymond Kearns maintains that his main advantage over the mainstream school system is his ability to attract excellent teachers and reward them accordingly.

"Many people aren't suited to their professions. If a teacher isn't doing well, for whatever reason, it is very difficult for a school to do anything about it. I never let a great teacher go because of not being rewarded. That's the secret."

John O'Halloran agrees: "We are only as good as our teachers. Getting the right teachers is the most important thing for me to do."

However, John White worries about the reliance on help outside school. "There are circumstances in which grinds can be counter-productive. You come across situations where students don't have their homework done in school because they're taking grinds in that subject. That's just absurd."

John O'Halloran dismisses this as "bunkum. I'm not saying that it doesn't happen but those cases would be very much in the minority. Students who come to us want to work."

While Eleanor Petrie doesn't go as far as White, she does say: "Students spend enough time in school as it is. They shouldn't need to spend extra time on their studies outside school."

The points system, however, remains the last word in the argument for after-school tuition.

Micheál Landers of Bruce College in Cork maintains: "We are providing a service. Grinds help students to improve their grades. At the end of the day, in a system like the Leaving Cert, no matter how well-rounded a student is, the only factor that matters is grades."