ISLAMABAD: The federal government has announced plans to distribute 500,000 refurbished Chromebooks to high-achieving Grade 9 students across Pakistan under the Prime Minister’s Youth Chromebooks Scheme.
The initiative will be managed by the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training in collaboration with the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme. The Tokyo Technology Care Foundation (TT Care Foundation) will provide the devices under a letter of understanding.
Eligibility Criteria
Students must have secured at least 50 per cent marks in their most recent Secondary School Certificate Part-I (SSC-I) examinations to qualify for consideration.
The Inter Boards Coordination Commission (IBCC) will verify examination results, while selection will be based strictly on merit within each province or region, education board and academic stream.
Eligible institutions include public-sector schools, private schools supported by provincial governments or educational foundations, and registered madaris.
Provincial and Regional Quotas
The scheme has allocated the following quotas for Chromebook distribution:
- Punjab: 181,090
- Sindh: 85,925
- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: 51,170
- Balochistan: 31,815
- Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT): 100,000
- Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK): 25,000
- Gilgit-Baltistan (GB): 25,000
Under the announced allocation formula, 80 per cent of each region’s share will go to school students and 20 per cent to students enrolled in madaris. Within these allocations, 70 per cent will be reserved for science students and 30 per cent for arts students.
Verification and Delivery
Schools will verify students’ marksheets, current enrolment and institutional affiliation before the devices are dispatched through a courier service.
The delivery system will include shipment tracking, while complaint committees will address concerns relating to selection, verification and failure to deliver the promised devices.
Each selected student will also receive a backpack and a MiFi internet device to support access to online educational resources, digital learning materials and electronic libraries from home.
Government’s Digital Education Initiative
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced the scheme in Islamabad on October 25, saying the distribution would be strictly merit-based. He said financial constraints should not prevent talented students from accessing educational opportunities.
The prime minister also referred to the distribution of 600,000 laptops by previous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) governments over the past decade.
The new initiative aims to distribute 500,000 Chromebooks over the next two years. According to the prime minister, internet connectivity provided through the programme could benefit around 2.5 million people.
He said the scheme’s primary objective was to connect students who lack digital access and help them participate in the online economy.