A head teacher I interviewed a few years ago at a Glasgow school that had a high percentage of pupils from the most deprived postcodes in Scotland said that one of her first endeavours on taking over the school had been to introduce a uniform policy that involved shirt, tie and blazer.

It made the young people feel as though they were equal to the teenagers in the "good schools" across the border in East Renfrewshire. Those pupils wore the uniform of a pseudo-private school and now these young people were just as smart.

A rack of uniform essentials was set up near the front door of the school so if a child's family couldn't afford a blazer they could just discretely grab one off a railing on the way in to class.

One of these "good schools" has a nine-page PDF on its website giving minute detail about what may and may not be worn on the premises. That comes down to little more than giving an appearance of instilling discipline, I suppose, but how much time must be wasted lining pupils up to inspect their shoes or double check their overcoats have no flashes or colour.

The more coveted state schools tend to have strict uniform rules and so people argue that uniform assists learning. Is it correlation or causation? That is, the "top" schools tend to have strict uniform standards, as do private schools. Do young people do well at these schools because they are aided by piped blazers and shin-length skirts? Or, as is the case with league table rankings, do they do well because they are from majority middle class families with all associated supports?

The head at the Glasgow school said youngsters received an important psychological boost from the uniform, which is something I've heard from many head teachers over the years.

The argument against, of course, is that any school run well enough will make its pupils feel included, valued and ready to learn no matter what they wear.

One can only be glad that state schools don't compel little boys to wear short trousers. It's awful in the dead of winter seeing these tiny scholars with red raw frozen knees peeking between woollen socks and woollen shorts. A denial of long trousers has always seemed a particularly pointless peculiarity.

The Scottish Government has said it will introduce statutory guidance in Scotland that largely aims to reduce costs for parents and carers and ensure uniform does not negatively impact equality.

It has opened a consultation into the issue, which closes on October 14.

Many schools have uniform banks available where parents can donate uniform their children no longer need and families can buy cheap uniform essentials, which is certainly a set up that should be universal.

I should say I was very grateful for school uniform. Labels and fashions were very important to my peers and I didn't have access to the former, nor had I the instinct for the latter.

Uniform standards were an endless source of frustrations to the teachers. Every child showed up to first year looking like a shrunken adult, finger tips peeking from the cuffs of blazers bought a size too large to grow in to.

These blazers were all abandoned within weeks due to it being fatally uncool to wear such an item. Not mine. Mine was worn throughout first and second year as my mother wanted her money's worth, and fair enough.

Kids generally turned up wearing whatever they wanted and I do remember exasperated teachers wasting time and energy trying to get their charges into uniform.

At one point it was decided that we should all wear the colour of our individual houses, rather than the school colours, and that the uniform should be tracksuit bottoms, t shirts and hoodies with the school crest.

There was an awful attempt to hold a fashion parade in the gym hall to try to get us kids excited about it. I remember feeling horrendously sorry for the desperately uncool teachers who were clueless about what young people wanted. I mean, I was just as clueless, but I wasn't trying to make anybody parade up and down a makeshift catwalk.

While some scorn uniform as an entirely outmoded and pointless idea, clothing matters - otherwise the fashion industry would have perished an age ago. If we are talking about a desire for equality then uniform serves a vital purpose.

To have everyone dressed largely the same ensures everyone is equal in at least one area.

One of the questions the Scottish Government asks is what should be included in the scope of the guidance. Is this something that needs statutory guidance at all? Schools know their cohorts best and can manage uniform needs within that.

Whether shirt and tie, polo shirt or no uniform at all, creating equality for all young people should be the one thing the government ensures is uniform.

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