PM Shehbaz launches scheme to distribute 500,000 Chromebooks to students
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif launched the Prime Minister's Youth Chromebook Scheme in Islamabad on Sunday. Some 500,000 Chromebooks and internet devices will go to students over two years.
- 500,000 Chromebooks to be distributed over two years
- Students from schools and religious seminaries are eligible, on merit
- Each student also gets a bag and a MiFi internet device
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday launched the distribution of 500,000 Chromebooks and internet facilities to talented students from schools and religious seminaries across Pakistan. The devices will be handed out over the next two years under the Prime Minister's Youth Programme, he said at a ceremony in Islamabad.
The prime minister said access to technology and education should not be limited by wealth or poverty, and that merit and effort would decide who receives the devices. Selected students are also being given bags and MiFi devices so they can get online, attend classes remotely and use electronic libraries from home, he said.
According to Geo News, citing The News, the scheme is run by the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training with the Prime Minister's Youth Programme. Under a letter of understanding, the TT Care Foundation has committed to supply the devices, which Geo describes as refurbished Chromebooks for high-scoring Grade 9 students. The prime minister thanked Rashid Minhas, founder of the Tokyo Care Foundation, for his donation towards the initiative.
Officials told Geo News that students will be ranked on their latest SSC-I marks, verified by the Inter Boards Coordination Commission, and must score at least 50%. Selection will run within each province or region, board and stream until the quota is used up. Students of public schools, of private schools funded through provincial education foundations and of registered madaris are eligible, with madaris students vetted separately with the Directorate General of Religious Education.
The allocations are: Punjab 181,090 devices, Sindh 85,925, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 51,170 and Balochistan 31,815. Islamabad will receive 100,000, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan 25,000 each. Within each province or region, four of every five devices will go to school students and one to madaris students. Among school students, science takes 70% and arts 30%.
Officials said each device will be linked to its recipient by serial number and sent by courier, with a central system tracking dispatch and delivery. Grievance committees will be set up at examination board and provincial or regional levels, and repair and maintenance will be provided by a contracted firm after the first year of delivery.
The prime minister recalled that 600,000 laptops were distributed on merit across the provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir under former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, a programme that took about 10 years. He also said a Daanish school was inaugurated in Islamabad a few days earlier and 27 more are under construction, with no fees for children.
Why it matters
Students in public and private schools and registered madaris who score well in SSC-I could receive a free Chromebook and internet device. The programme covers every province, Islamabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
