Recently, on Facebook, there was a post by some parents of Nghi Duc Primary School (Nghi Duc Commune, Vinh City, Nghe An) reflecting on the collection of "air conditioner moving and installation costs" causing a stir in public opinion.

Accordingly, on September 13, at the first parent meeting of the year, Nghi Duc Primary School announced a number of fees, including the cost of moving and installing air conditioners for 8 classes from the old classroom to the new classroom.

Cost of 3-phase electrical wire: 740,000 VND; disassembly cost: 300,000 VND; cleaning cost: 400,000 VND; installation cost: 800,000 VND; copper pipe cost: 1,060,000 VND; water pipe cost: 100,000 VND... Total cost: 3,872,500 VND/class.

Many parents disagreed with the list provided by the school, saying that the cost of moving the air conditioner was higher than the market price. In addition, the school did not consult with parents before moving.

Regarding this issue, answering GD&TĐ Newspaper, Ms. Lam Thi Thuy Hoa - Principal of Nghi Duc Primary School said that the old classroom building of the school was recently degraded, moldy, and the walls were peeling. Therefore, the school "borrowed" the contractor of the 3-storey building under construction to use in time for the new school year, even though the project had not been handed over yet.

On July 25, the school held a meeting with the Parents' Association. At this meeting, the school raised the issue of moving all the air conditioners in the administrative rooms and the air conditioners in 8 old classrooms. In addition, the school also moved all the televisions and internet lines.

According to Ms. Hoa, in order for the school’s teaching and learning activities to be organized and disciplined, the school must “boldly” implement the network system first. When installing the network line, the school accounted for and moved 16 air conditioners from 8 classes to the new classroom. The price list for the relocation cost was provided by the contractor.

Ms. Hoa explained that if 16 classroom air conditioners and 5 administrative rooms were used, the power lines would not be enough to handle the load. Therefore, a separate 3-phase power line had to be made for the air conditioners from the classrooms to the electric pole in front of the school gate.

“Moving an old air conditioner is not like moving a new one, it will cause the copper pipes to be damaged, the school will have to maintain them, along with the electrical wires. In addition, the Department of Education requires the air conditioner to be installed in a conduit to ensure safety. The air conditioner’s drainage water must be put into a water pipe because it has not been handed over yet so it must be put into a water pipe to prevent the walls from getting moldy or leaking,” Ms. Hoa explained the expenses.

The total cost of moving 2 air conditioners per class is more than 3.8 million VND, equivalent to more than 1.9 million VND per air conditioner. At the meeting on October 13, the school said it would support each class with 1.3 million VND; parents only have to pay the remaining 2.5 million VND.

“Last year, the self-installation cost 3.5 million. But this year, I installed it for 3.8 million, plus the water pipes and electrical lines,” said Ms. Hoa, adding that before the contractor moved the air conditioner, she had consulted the market prices.

However, the female principal also admitted a "shortcoming" in implementing this issue by only consulting with the school's Parents' Representative Committee (3 members) without discussing it with all classes due to time constraints.

At the same time, it is believed that at the parent meeting on October 13, the teachers may have not fully explained the implementation to parents, leading to misunderstandings.

According to Ms. Hoa, on October 14, the Board of Directors of Nghi Duc Primary School worked with the Nghi Duc commune government and the Parents' Representative Board of each class to explain the incident.