TNNLucknow: The Unaided Private Schools Association (UPSA) on Sunday announced that private schools in the city will no longer force parents to buy books and stationery of any particular brand or from any specific store.The decision was taken at a UPSA meeting attended by representatives of over 200 private schools in Lucknow. At the meeting, it was noted that all member schools are fully complying with the Unaided Private Schools Association Fee Regulation Act.“For the past seven years, since the Act came into force, fee hikes in private schools have been based on 5% plus the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Over the past six years, the maximum increase has been 10%, and for the current academic year 2026–27, the total increase has been fixed at 7.5%,” said UPSA president Anil Agarwal.He added that, considering the difficulties parents face regarding books and stationery, private schools will try to ensure that books are not changed frequently. In ICSE and CBSE schools, efforts will be made to keep books unchanged until the boards revise the syllabus.“The association will also request the govt to rationalise GST, which is currently 18% on paper used for school-related items, so that the overall cost burden on parents can be reduced,” said UPSA senior vice-president and CBSE city coordinator Jawaid Alam Khan.
