There has been a debate on Chinese social media over the use of air conditioning in classrooms as the country battles a heat wave.
Parents in some of China's hottest cities have called on schools to install air conditioning as temperatures soar above 35 degrees Celsius.
The debate flared up in the southern city of Changsha, where the education department responded by saying it would not install air conditioners so students could "cultivate the spirit of hard work and endurance".
The comment only further angered people on the networks and caused a debate about who should pay for it and whether air conditioners should be used at all.
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"Hard work and endurance? Can we then ask the education bureau to work in 40 degree heat and then discuss whether this is the way to cultivate such a spirit in children," one Weibo user wrote.
Another added that global warming has become serious and what the authorities want children to do.
Most classrooms in China do not have air conditioning and use ceiling fans.
However, calls to install air conditioners have intensified in recent months.
"Without air conditioning, it's hard to think about studying," Lin Yujun, the father of a junior high school student in Guangzhou, southern China, told the news site. Sixth tonefrom Shanghai.
Not all parents are in favor of installing an air conditioner.
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Some expressed concern about a higher risk of catching colds or other infections at school in air-conditioned classrooms.
Others suggested changing the school calendar.
"It was never so hot in September in previous years. Maybe the board of education could extend the vacation, depending on the weather," said a parent to CQ News.
Earlier this year, the China Meteorological Bureau warned of increasingly hotter and longer heat waves, adding that maximum temperatures across the country could rise by as much as 2,8 degrees Celsius over the next 30 years.
Schools, however, do not want additional costs, such as air conditioners and electricity bills.
An elementary school in the southern city of Shiyantan has come under fire for asking parents to pay for air conditioners, or rather to donate money.
The local education bureau later ordered the school to reimburse the parents.
"Now that [authorities] have prevented parents from giving money, when will students be able to use air conditioners in such high temperatures," wrote Long Zhi Zhu, a local media reporter.
“[Everyone] is going around in circles on this issue. At the end of the day, it's the children who suffer," wrote a Weibo user.
Some schools are trying to cope with the heat without the help of air conditioning - they have placed buckets with large blocks of ice in the classrooms to cool the space.
Some schools in the eastern province of Jiangxi and the southwestern province of Sichuan postponed the start of the school year, which was supposed to start on September 2, by a week.
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