Students rent air conditioners for 34 million VND/year, twice as expensive as buying new ones?

After Dan Tri newspaper reported parents' frustrations about the plan to use air conditioners through the article "Students rent air conditioners for 34 million VND/year, why don't they buy them?", many parents and administrators unanimously expressed their support for the plan to buy a new one at once for long-term use.

Ms. Mai Ly * - a parent with 2 children studying at Yen The Primary School, Tan Binh District - said that her practical experience shows that buying and installing new air conditioners will be more economical and effective.

She said, when the two children entered school, there was no air conditioning so the parents agreed to buy a new one.

"Each room needs 2 good air conditioners, costing about 14-15 million VND/unit, along with installation and maintenance costs, so depending on the class size, each child pays 800,000 - 1,000,000 VND. Each month, parents pay an additional 35,000 VND for electricity," said Ms. Ly.

With the hot weather in Ho Chi Minh City, air conditioners are essential equipment for classrooms (Photo: Huyen Nguyen).

According to the mother of two, air conditioners rarely break down. The youngest child in grade 5 has been using the air conditioner for 5 years now, but it still works well. The older child's class has graduated and donated the air conditioner to the school, so the next class does not have to pay for another one.

"The cost will be a bit high for the first classes, but if you consider the long-term, buying is still the most economical option. Everyone has children or grandchildren who will continue studying at the school, so you don't have to worry about losing out if you have to buy new ones. After they finish studying, someone else will benefit," Ly explained.

Ms. Ha My - parent of Son Ha Primary School, District 3 - was happy when her child's class inherited the air conditioner left by the previous classes.

"When my child entered school, all the rooms were equipped with air conditioners, so in the 2023-2024 school year, I only had to pay 28,000 VND for electricity per month to use the service. This year, the school has not announced the fee, but it certainly won't change much," Ms. My shared.

Parents pay 28,000 VND per month for air conditioning (Photo: Huyen Nguyen).

This parent expressed that, with the above reality, if the air conditioner breaks down, she will suggest buying a new one for long-term use.

"Obviously, buying a new one is more economical and effective because the children get to use a new air conditioner, which is less likely to break down and consume less energy, and the cost is lower. If you rent one, you won't know the quality of the air conditioner and how long the children will use it," said Ms. My.

Mr. Phan Anh - whose child studies at Kindergarten 3, District 3 - enthusiastically said he agrees with the plan for parents to proactively buy air conditioners to install in classrooms. His child also pays for electricity and maintenance, which is less than 30,000 VND/month, to use air conditioners.

"The school announced that if any class's air conditioner is too old or broken, parents can discuss a plan to replace it with a new one. For classes with good air conditioners, students can still use it normally without having to contribute anything," said Mr. Phan Anh.

Ms. Lam Ngoc - a parent in Ward 3, Binh Thanh District - said that before the summer break, the representative of the students' parents announced the plan to buy new air conditioners with the installation cost of only about 750,000 VND/student.

"My child will still be in school for a long time, so I chose the new installation option. I think that only final grade classes should consider renting," Ms. Ngoc stated her opinion.

Many parents said that some classes only spent about 500,000 VND/student to install new air conditioners.

Preliminary calculation of the plan to buy and rent an air conditioner for a first grade student (Synthesized by: Huyen Nguyen).

Based on the experience shared by experienced parents, the economic calculation shows that for an elementary school student (studying 5 years at school), the cost of buying a new air conditioner and using it for the entire school year is about 2-2.5 million VND/student/5 years.

In case students inherit old air conditioners, the cost of use is only 1.2-1.6 million VND/student/5 years.

On the contrary, if you rent an air conditioner, the cost can be twice as high at 4-5.3 million VND/student/5 years.

A school administrator in Tan Phu district said that with more than 20 years of experience, he also chose the new installation option.

This person said that his school has dozens of classrooms and has installed air conditioners. Each month, students use them "freely", but the electricity and maintenance costs are less than 40,000 VND/student.

"The difficulty for schools is the initial installation. My school did not do it all at once but in a "rolling" manner. Initially, only 5-6 classes implemented it, but later, seeing the model's effectiveness and cost savings, parents highly approved. For many years now, new students have not had to install air conditioners because they were given them by the old classes," he said.

Notice of air conditioner rental fee collection from a school in Thu Duc City (Photo: Provided by parent).

At the beginning of this school year, many parents in Ho Chi Minh City are concerned about renting or buying new air conditioners. Some schools have implemented air conditioner rental services with a cost of about 90,000-95,000 VND/student/month.

According to many parents, renting an air conditioner has the advantage of being "easy" for parents and schools, but the cost can be higher than buying and installing a new one.

* Parent's name has been changed

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/hoc-sinh-thue-may-lanh-34-trieu-dongnam-dat-gap-doi-mua-moi-20240918143022932.htm