In Ireland, grinds are private tuition; a major[citation needed] industry in Ireland, particularly at secondary school level.

In 2012, the Revenue Commissioners launched an investigation into a perceived failure of some teachers to declare extra income from giving grinds for tax purposes. The Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland denied that this is a widespread problem.[1]

Some schools such as Ashfield College,[2] Bruce College,[3] the Institute of Education,[4] Leinster Senior College,[5] and Yeats College[6] which offer the Leaving Certificate as a single year (repeat) course are called grind schools.

A study in 2020 indicated the students from Irish-speaking secondary schools and grind schools had strong chances of progressing to further education but were significantly less likely to finish their course or achieve a 2:1 degree or greater compared to students from secondary schools.[7]

Online grinds edit

The advent of COVID-19 forced Irish schools to shut down.[8] The education sector shifted to online classes and new online-only grinds schools were established. These grinds can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection, making them useful for students who live in remote or rural areas. Additionally, with advances in AI, on demand grinds have been introduced through a chat interface.[9] The rise of online and on demand grinds represents a shift in the way education is delivered. This is likely to have a lasting impact on the sector.[citation needed]

References edit

  1. ^ "Teachers play down reports of tax investigation over grind fees", The Journal, 9 January 2012
  2. ^ Grinds Archived 28 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine Ashfield College
  3. ^ The Irish Times (2000).
  4. ^ Hickey (2008).
  5. ^ The Irish Times (2002).
  6. ^ Yeats College Grinds
  7. ^ Donnelly 2020.
  8. ^ Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education in the Republic of Ireland
  9. ^ "ExamAI - On Demand AI Grinds". ExamAI. Retrieved 16 January 2024.

Further reading edit