Pakistan launches scheme to give students 500,000 Chromebooks over two years

ISLAMABAD — Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has launched a scheme to distribute 500,000 Chromebook laptops to students across Pakistan over the next two years, awarded on merit and ability.

Speaking at the launch ceremony of the Prime Minister’s Youth Chromebook Scheme in Islamabad on Sunday, Sharif said providing young people with modern technology was the state’s “collective responsibility”, calling students “the true assets of Pakistan”.

“Our boys and girls [..] are the true assets of Pakistan,” he said, adding that the Chromebooks were being distributed based on the youth’s hard work and ability, and that intelligence and hard work should not be limited by poverty.

At the ceremony, laptops and internet devices were also distributed to high-performing Grade 9 students and students of religious seminaries, according to Geo News and The News. Sharif said seminary students had received laptops in the past as well, and that the new devices would go to students “on the basis of the youth’s ability and ability alone”.

Sharif recalled that previous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz governments had distributed 600,000 laptops within a decade, and said the new scheme aimed to distribute 500,000 Chromebooks in two years. He also pointed to the recent inauguration of a Daanish School in Islamabad, with 27 more such schools under construction across the country.

The devices are intended to help students gain further education and, in future, secure employment, the prime minister said. “Education is a jewel; regardless of where you are from, it will always make you distinguished in society,” he said.

Sources

• Dawn, “Students across country to get 500,000 Chromebooks over 2 years, announces PM Shehbaz”: https://www.dawn.com/news/2039718/students-across-country-to-get-500000-chromebooks-over-2-years-announces-pm-shehbaz
• Geo News, “PM Shehbaz launches scheme to distribute 500,000 Chromebooks to students”: https://www.geo.tv/latest/688214-pm-shehbaz-launches-scheme-to-distribute-500000-chromebooks-to-students
• The News, “PM Chromebooks scheme: Premier says 500,000 devices to be distributed in two years”: https://www.thenews.pk/story/1445044-pm-chromebooks-scheme-premier-says-500000-devices-to-be-distributed-in-two-years
• APP via Tezkhabar, “PM launches Chromebook Scheme for 500,000 students, stresses youth empowerment”: https://en.tezkhabar.tv/pm-launches-chromebook-scheme-for-500000-students-stresses-youth-empowerment/