Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced on Sunday that the government would distribute 500,000 Chromebook laptops to students nationwide over two years.
He said this at the launch ceremony of the Prime Minister’s Youth Chromebook Scheme in Islamabad.
At the outset of his address, the premier stressed that it was his duty and the state’s “collective responsibility” to provide the youth with modern technology, so they could become “the great builders of Pakistan”.
“Our boys and girls [..] are the true assets of Pakistan,” the prime minister remarked. He added that the Chromebooks were being distributed based on the youth’s hard work and ability.
He hoped students would be able to “attend school remotely [..] and find themselves amongst the most educated people” with the help of the device.
PM Shehbaz recalled that the previous PML-N governments distributed 600,000 laptops within a decade; however, he vowed that the government now aimed to distribute 500,000 Chromebooks in the next two years.
“These wonderful instruments will be in your hands so that you are not lagging in intelligence and skills,” he said, stressing that intelligence and hard work should not be limited by poverty.
Recalling the recent inauguration of a Daanish School in Islamabad, PM Shehbaz stressed that education “should be the priority of any government”.
“For the development of the nation’s children, all the resources should be provided,” he said.
The prime minister also clarified that the facility was available to students of religious seminaries and had been in the past as well.
“In the past, we had given laptops to the students of prominent seminaries along with universities and colleges”, he said, adding that the 500,000 Chromebooks will be distributed on the basis of the youth’s “ability and ability alone”.
“These Chromebooks will help you gain further education, and in the future, these devices will help you 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 remarked.
In August, the premier, speaking on the occasion of International Youth Day, said that 250,000 high-achieving students would be awarded Chromebook laptops this year.
Last year, Pakistan launched its first Google Chromebook assembly line and hailed it as a “historic milestone” that would make digital tools more accessible.
At the time, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar had said the assembly line’s establishment held great economic significance as it laid the “foundation for jobs, supply chain, development and future tech exports”.