On Monday, around 17,000 children in Prague will embark on the adventure of starting school. To welcome them, the city has prepared a gift: generously filled starter packs with both useful items and little extras.
When 1 September comes and about 17,000 Prague children experience their very first school day, a small surprise awaits them. As in previous years, the city is handing out practical starter packs designed to ease the transition into everyday school life. A total of 223 schools will receive the brightly filled sets, which include not only exercise books and pens but also original contributions from local institutions.
Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda described it as “a small gesture with great meaning”: the first day of school, he said, is a formative moment for children and parents alike – one to be remembered fondly. The free packs are therefore not only a symbolic welcome gift but also a form of support for families.
Alongside the classic tools – crayons, pencils, ruler, rubber and glue stick – the cotton bags also hold small extras. The Botanical Garden offers children’s entry vouchers, the Planetarium an invitation to travel among the stars, and the City Library includes a bookmark. Safety and fun are also taken into account: the public transport authority is providing reflective wristbands, the police a keyring. A Pexeso game, a zoo notebook and cut-out models from the transport company round off the bundle.
To ensure all the gifts reach classrooms on time, city police officers are handling the distribution. At the same time, in the first days of September they will be stepping up supervision at zebra crossings near schools.
The city has invested almost two million crowns in the 17,000 sets. The cost covers not only the items themselves but also the logistics and packaging.
