It's not new - well-off parents improving their child's chances of exam success by paying for extra tuition - but it is happening earlier and earlier. Even primary school children are now getting grinds, writes Louise Holden.

Fifty euro an hour is fair money for a professional service well delivered - you couldn't get a plumber to come to your house for less. However, when you are already paying someone else to do the same job, it starts to look like money for old rope. Thousands of parents who send their children to fee-paying schools are doing exactly that by signing their children up for grinds.

These parents regularly fork out between €30 and €50 per hour, for up to four hours a week right through the academic year. Nearly two-thirds of Leaving Certificate students take grinds, according to a survey of more than 1,000 students conducted by Student Enrichment Services this year. These are not all children from poorly resourced State schools - quite the opposite. In one prestigious private boys' schools, I discovered that nearly every student in the honours maths class was attending private tuition.

"About 15 per cent of the teachers here are giving grinds," said one teacher from the well-known Dublin school. "The school authorities have no problem with it as long as the teachers don't canvass for students - they have to wait for the parents to approach them." Imagine the scenario - a class of 25 students in the highly competitive top honours maths class start out the senior cycle. One or two parents approach a teacher for bit of extra tuition for their sons and immediately the rest of the class feel disadvantaged. Soon everyone is grappling for an hour of private time, whether they need it or not. "It's not unusual for some teachers to do 10 or more hours a week," according to the source.

This well-established system goes against the recommendations of every teachers' group in the country. The ASTI is very clear about the role of private tuition within the school system.

"Our basic policy on 'one-to-one tuition' is that there may be circumstances where a student can benefit from out-of-school tuition," says ASTI press officer Gemma Tuffy. "For example, if the student has suffered a prolonged absence from school, or there are special circumstances which have led to the student falling behind in class and where it is considered that extra tuition for a limited period would make it possible for a student to make ordinary progress in class.

"In addition, the ASTI believes that best practice is for the teacher giving the out-of-school tuition to consult with the parents of the pupil and, where appropriate, the regular class teacher. One-to-one tuition should be a temporary arrangement and should be reviewed after, at most, a month."

Instead, many able pupils are signing up for grinds at the beginning of fifth year and trudging back and forth every week for two years. And it's not just a senior-cycle phenomenon. As early as first year parents are approaching teachers for grinds - to make sure their children get into the honours classes for Junior Cert. Even the odd primary school student is getting on the treadmill.

"As far as I'm concerned, this is a sheer money-making industry," says Mary McGlynn, director of the National Association of Principal and Deputy Principals (NAPD). "Grinds are fine where a student has a genuine reason to catch up, but grinds to boost performance are a very short term solution. Even if it pushes them to get what they need in the Leaving Cert, they can flounder at third level."

McGlynn wonders if unreal expectations on the part of parents are fuelling the grinds industry. "I hear primary colleagues talking about students getting help. In any normal circumstances, regular school-hour teaching should be adequate. You can't buy intelligence, but that's the mentality at play here."

She worries about the effect that grinds have on students' attitude to school. "Sometimes students taking grinds think they can do nothing in class. The large cohort of average students taking grinds at home and doing nothing in class are the bane of teachers' lives."

Eleanor Petrie of the National Parents' Council Post-Primary (NPCPP) regrets the rampant growth of the industry, but understands it. "There is an element of peer pressure at play. Parents will move heaven and earth to do the best for their children. If their child is one of the few in the class not attending a grind, parents feel guilty. But grinds are no magic bullet. If students are not prepared to work, they won't succeed. Many are just going along for the ride and not getting much from grinds at all."

Petrie agrees that the grind frenzy is spilling out of the exam years and down through the schools to second and first year - with a recent trickle into primary. She sees the problem as systematic. "The maths curriculum, in particular, is too crowded. The teachers have problems covering the course. The new Junior Certificate maths curriculum is not working."

Barbara Johnson of the Catholic Secondary School Parents' Association (CSSPA) is concerned about the continuing growth of the grind culture. "Primary-school children are getting grinds in maths and Irish - grinds have become part of the fabric of our education system."

Maths, Irish and English seem to be the hot subjects at every level. Why? Because underperformance in these subjects can cost students places at university. For parents who want their children to do medicine, law or other prestige subjects, high honours in the big three are critical.

It's part of appallingly pressurised system that has some parents losing sight of reality. "Perhaps 3 per cent of the population are going to get onto courses in law, medicine and actuary. The rest are clutching at straws," says McGlynn.

"Many are taking too many honours-level subjects for their ability levels. They are boosting their chances temporarily with grinds. They are scraping their way into courses that they are not able for. It's not a kindness to spoonfeed students at secondary level and then expect them to cope at third level."

In McGlynn's view, parents need to be realistic about where their children's aptitudes lie and concentrate on helping them to get into courses and careers where they will thrive.

"If a child needs regular grinds right through the school system, and there are no exceptional circumstances to justify those grinds - what's the educational basis? What's the real benefit for the child?"