Le Dinh Chinh Primary School, District 11, has done a good job of socializing and has been able to mobilize parents to buy air conditioners for the classes - Photo: NHU HUNG
Mr. N. - a parent with a child studying in grade 10 at Thanh Da High School, Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City - raised a question.
Buying is cheaper than renting.
Mr. N. calculated: "We have to pay 95,000 VND per month for our child with the air conditioner rental fee. Meanwhile, I looked at the market price, a two-horsepower air conditioner that can be used now is only about 15.5 million VND/unit.
Each class needs to install two two-horsepower air conditioners, which costs 31 million VND. With 45 students per class, you only need to use the money from seven months of rent to buy two new air conditioners and use them throughout three years of high school. Just a rough calculation like that is enough to see that the current air conditioner rental price is too expensive compared to the market price."
Similarly, Mr. P. - a parent at Long Truong High School, Thu Duc City - also reflected: "Our school has 40 classes, on average each class has 45 students, the monthly air conditioner rental fee is more than 170 million VND.
Thus, a school year has nine months, so the cost of renting an air conditioner is more than 1 billion VND, not a small amount. Why doesn't the school choose a cheaper, better option for students, which is to buy an air conditioner, because if you buy it, the air conditioner is your property and can be used for a long time?
Not only the two schools above, currently in Ho Chi Minh City, there are many high schools that choose to rent air conditioners through socialization instead of asking parents to contribute money to buy them.
Parental decision
Speaking to Tuoi Tre , Mr. Le Huu Han - principal of Thanh Da High School - informed: "Previously, our school also mobilized parents to equip air conditioners for classrooms because students complained that it was too hot and studying was not effective. However, this did not receive the consensus of parents.
Since the previous school year, we proposed the option of renting air conditioners and parents agreed. Therefore, Thanh Da High School has rented air conditioners since the 2023-2024 school year. This year, the school also asked for parents' opinions at the beginning of the school year before implementing it."
According to Mr. Han, the original design of Thanh Da School was not to install air conditioning but to use electric fans. Therefore, when changing the function, the current electrical system could not meet the requirements.
"The collection rate of 95,000 VND/month is the collection rate stipulated by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council, not set by the school itself. Of which, 60,000 VND is for air conditioner rental, 35,000 VND is for electricity, maintenance, etc.
Not to mention, the air conditioner rental unit is obliged to redo its own power line to ensure safety. Redoing this power line is also quite expensive," Mr. Han said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Vo Tan Nghia - principal of Long Truong High School - said that at the beginning of the school year, the school implemented three options: classrooms without air conditioning if parents do not need it; parents buy air conditioning to install and only pay monthly electricity bills; option 3 is to rent air conditioning. As a result, classes chose option 3.
Regarding the rental of air conditioners, an official from the HCM City Department of Education and Training said that it is not true that just buying an air conditioner and installing it in the school will allow immediate use. Most schools were originally designed not to use air conditioners, and now if they want to use them, they have to complete paperwork and request to redo the electrical wiring, which is quite complicated and costly.
"It turns out that each parent has to pay 1-2 million VND to be able to buy it. Currently, raising money is considered a sensitive issue, not all parents agree and have the conditions. Only schools with a majority of well-off parents can do it.
Therefore, the HCMC People's Council has stipulated two fees related to air conditioners: for schools that already have air conditioners, parents will pay 35,000 VND/month for electricity and maintenance; for schools that have to rent, parents will pay 95,000 VND/month," he said.
Many schools buy air conditioners
According to Tuoi Tre , in Ho Chi Minh City, there are currently many schools that have been encouraged by parents to equip their classrooms with air conditioners. In District 1 and District 3, most primary and secondary schools have done this for many years.
"At that time, the market did not have an air conditioner rental service like it does now, but if there was and if I had a choice, I would choose to rent," said the principal of a high school in District 1.
Convenient for school
The principal of a school in Ho Chi Minh City said that renting air conditioners would be very convenient for the school, even though the rental price is more expensive than buying them.
"First, when renting, the service provider is fully responsible when the air conditioner is damaged or needs cleaning or maintenance. When the air conditioner has a problem, just call them and they will come fix it immediately, the school does not have to worry about this problem.
Second, most schools were originally designed to use electric fans, so when switching to air conditioning, it took a lot of effort and money to complete the paperwork and redo the electrical wiring.
Third, the campaign to install air conditioners is for students, the beneficiaries are students and teachers.
However, if socialization is not done properly, the school will be accused of overcharging, especially at the beginning of the school year. If not careful, inspection teams will come down, the school will be very tired, and will no longer have the energy to focus on teaching and learning," this person analyzed.
Parents upset because they have to clean up for their children
Ngo Thi Nham Primary School - Photo: School's FB
Recently, a parent posted on social media expressing her frustration at having to come to her child’s school to be on duty after 5 p.m. This parent said that her child is in first grade at Ngo Thi Nham Primary School, Thanh Tri (Hanoi). Since the beginning of the school year, every day, the parents in the class have had to take turns coming to the school to be on duty at 5 p.m.
According to this parent, at the beginning of the school year, parents were informed that because first graders have difficulty cleaning their classrooms, each class needs to pay 500,000 VND to hire someone to clean the classroom. If they do not hire someone, parents will have to come to school at 5pm every day to clean the classroom for their children.
In addition, parents also reported that the school's parent committee called for donations of facilities. In the first semester, grade 1 donated 10 air conditioners to the school, estimated at more than 10 million VND/set. In the second semester, parents of the whole school donated an artificial turf field to the school, estimated at more than 100,000 VND/student.
On September 27, speaking with Tuoi Tre , Ms. Hoang Thi Thu Ha - principal of Ngo Thi Nham Primary School - said that after reviewing the complaint, the school found that Ms. NTU - homeroom teacher of class 1A5 - was texting and exchanging information on the class's Zalo group.
However, due to the way teachers communicated and implemented the policy not being in line with the school's policy, not being thorough and clear, parents were dissatisfied, upset and had complaints.
"The school has asked teachers to write reports and organized a meeting of the pedagogical council to inform all staff and teachers that when exchanging and providing information to parents, they must ensure compliance with the school's policies.
We must discuss, publicize, and transparently communicate information so that parents can understand and support the school in all activities of raising and educating their children. The school has also contacted, discussed, and explained to parents to help them understand and share.
Through this incident, the school will strengthen the dissemination and guidance of staff and teachers on skills of exchanging information with parents to create sharing, consensus, and companionship with the school in all activities," said Ms. Ha.
Explaining the appeal for parents to support 10 new air conditioners and support the cost of building an artificial turf field, which received reactions from some parents, according to Ms. Ha, the school is only collecting opinions on these items, and currently the parents do not agree, the school has stopped implementing them and will no longer do so.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/dau-nam-hoc-nong-chuyen-may-lanh-o-lop-20240927224037133.htm
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