Pakistan PM launches scheme to give 500,000 refurbished Chromebooks to students

Centre · 1Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif launched the PM Youth Chromebook Scheme at a ceremony in Islamabad on Sunday 25 October 2026. It aims to distribute 500,000 refurbished Chromebooks and internet devices to students. 1 Centre · 1At the ceremony Sharif also handed laptops and internet devices to high-performing Grade 9 students and to seminary students. 1 Centre · 1Sharif described students as Pakistan's greatest asset. He said the devices would be awarded strictly on merit, regardless of financial circumstances, and that poverty should not keep talented students from technology. 2

Centre · 2He contrasted the scheme with his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party's earlier record: it distributed 600,000 laptops over a decade, and the new scheme would give 500,000 Chromebooks in two years. Gulf News said he also argued the devices would help students attend classes remotely, build digital skills and pursue jobs. 1 2 Centre · 1Geo News's explainer, citing officials, gives a different timeframe: distribution to Grade 9 students over three years. It says the scheme is run by the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training with the Prime Minister's Youth Programme, and that the TT Care Foundation has committed under a letter of understanding to supply the devices. 3 Centre · 1According to officials cited by Geo News, students will be ranked on their latest SSC-I scores, 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. Public school students, students at private schools funded through provincial education foundations, and registered madaris students are eligible, with madaris students vetted separately by the Directorate General of Religious Education. 3

Centre · 1The planned allocation is Punjab 181,090 devices, Sindh 85,925, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 51,170, Balochistan 31,815, Islamabad 100,000, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan 25,000 each. Within each province or region, four in five devices go to school students and one to madaris students. Among school students, science takes 70% and arts 30%. 3 Centre · 1Officials say 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. 3 Centre · 1Gulf News gives background: in August Sharif had announced plans to provide Chromebooks to 250,000 high-achieving students this year, and Pakistan launched its first Google Chromebook assembly line last year, which Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said could support employment and future technology exports. 2