My father (never a one to squander money) used to say "If Teachers were doing their jobs correctly, there would be no need for grinds." But, of course it was only a sentence uttered. We can blame teachers, the system, the Dept of Education, the religious school owners, the parents committee, etc etc. We might as well be spitting into the wind.
The Leaving Cert. is all about points; not about preparing our kids for their role in society or education or anything else. Let me reiterate points are all that matters unless you know somehow your loved one can enter the desired 3rd Level course without the amount of points needed.
Enter the Grinds Teacher - can be a great Points Getter with cramming courses, one-to-one tuition, exam tips, paragraph layout pointers etc. If the place in the Points Race is achieved by the student, nothing else matters. It is a short-term pay-for-points strategy.
Now, who caused all this Points Mayhem? Answer:- Look in the mirror. We can talk about tax avoidence, insurance of classroom-in-the-garage 'til the cows come home. But, we have created the monster. Therefore, we must live with the situation unless of course we all learn collective cop-on, which won't happen.
