ALMOST 50,000 Scottish children will be offered a free “Welcome to School Bag” next year – but “no one will be forced to take it”, Education Secretary Mairi McAllan has said.
Speaking to media after a visit to the Orbiston Community Hub in Bellshill on Monday, McAllan said that around 47,000 children starting P1 in 2027 would be offered the bags, which were a flagship policy of the SNP’s 2026 Holyrood election campaign.
Critics have raised concerns that the idea will create a class divide in Scottish schools between the children whose parents can afford their own backpack, and those who use the Government-approved bag.
Asked about this, McAllan said: “The offer has to be there, doesn't it?
“If we make the offer to children to have that available, I hope that the take up will be such because it's high quality and because the materials in it are good … You'll find hopefully that the majority of young people do have it.”
She went on: “Bearing in mind it's only Primary One, so you can go on to then pick the bags that you want, but it's about starting school on that equal footing.
“I hope we'll see a significant uptake, but no one will be forced to take it.”
Asked if simply giving families a cash payment to help buy their own school-start materials would be a more equalising route, McAllan said: “We take a cash-first approach to many of the support mechanisms that we offer. But this is, I suppose, when you think about a uniform. It's about everybody being the same and being ready to work. This is similar.
“It's not just about what money can buy. It's about everybody feeling like they belong and having the opportunity, as the wee ones were this morning, to design their wee front window and to know they're part of a new cohort, a new class.”
The Scottish Government has released a prototype design of the backpack, which features a clear window for children to personalise, and said that each will contain:
- a pencil case
- stationery including pens, pencils, coloured crayons, and a notebook
- a water bottle
- resources to encourage reading, writing and maths practice at home
The Scottish Government further said the bags would come in a variety of colours and be “lightweight, made of durable, recycled materials, have multiple versatile compartments and pockets [and] reflective piping for safety”.
McAllan was unable to confirm that the backpacks will be Scottish-made, but asked if they would be “cheap, Chinese-made” things, she said: “No. They've been weather-tested. They've got nice piping to make sure that they are within road safety requirements. We tested them to make sure that when full they wouldn't be too heavy for [the children].
“So all of that quality assurance has been done.”
The Education Secretary said she would be able to confirm costs after the procurement process is complete.
Asked whether the policy as a whole was value for money, she said: “There's no greater investment to be made than in a series of measures to support children to achieve everything they can in life, and to feel like they're starting school on an equal footing with everyone else.”
