(Image: Kieran Dodds)
Free school bags for children will be produced by a Scottish company after an Edinburgh-based firm secured the contract for their delivery.
Welcome to School Bags for children starting school next year will be available in five different colours following the procurement process for the first year of the programme.
Blue, green, pink, red and yellow backpacks will be available for around 47,000 pupils starting Primary 1 from August 2027.
Màiri McAllan (Image: Holyrood TV)
Edinburgh-based APS Group has secured a two-year contract worth £1.35 million annually to assemble and distribute the backpacks to schools across the country ahead of the 2027-28 academic year.
Each bag will contain a pencil case, pencils, crayons, a notebook, a water bottle and resources to encourage literacy and numeracy practice at home, helping to give all children the same start at primary school.
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Bags will also include information relevant to families of P1 children to support their transition into school, including details of social security entitlements and advice for parents and carers on keeping children safe online.
Education Secretary Màiri McAllan said: "Excellence and equity are my principal ambition for education, and providing every new P1 pupil with a high-quality bag is part of our wider work to remove barriers for all at the very start of their school journey.
"Building on the success of our universal Baby Box offer, we want to ensure children start school on an equal footing and with a feeling that they belong.
"As well as being available in five colours, children will have the option of adding a drawing to personalise their Welcome to School Bag, helping them start school excited and equipped with all the essentials for their first steps into the classroom.
"These will be delivered in time to be given to children during their transition visits, when the new intake visits primary schools ahead of the summer holidays to get to know their new class."