PM kicks off distribution of 500,000 Chromebooks, internet devices to students

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday stated entry to expertise and schooling shouldn’t be restricted by “wealth or poverty” as he launched the distribution of 500,000 Chromebooks and web services to proficient college students from faculties and non secular seminaries throughout Pakistan over the subsequent two years.

Addressing a ceremony underneath the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme, the prime minister stated, “Intelligence and laborious work shouldn’t be held captive by wealth and poverty,” stressing that advantage and energy ought to decide which college students obtained the gadgets.

The chosen college students have been additionally being supplied with luggage and MiFi gadgets to allow them to entry the web, attend lessons remotely, and use digital libraries from dwelling, he stated.

“Via these Chromebooks, it is possible for you to to amass information and, as you develop up, grow to be among the most distinguished and succesful folks on this nation,” PM Shehbaz instructed the scholars.

He stated the federal government was decided to make sure that proficient youngsters weren’t left behind in an more and more technology-driven world.

Recalling the earlier distribution of laptops underneath former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, PM Shehbaz stated 600,000 laptops had been distributed on advantage throughout Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

That programme had taken roughly 10 years to finish, he stated, including that the federal government now deliberate to distribute 500,000 Chromebooks to proficient college students throughout Pakistan inside two years.

“This can be a outstanding instrument that can be in your palms in order that you don’t fall behind anybody on the planet by way of capacity and intelligence,” he stated.

The prime minister stated the sooner laptop computer scheme had benefited college students from completely different backgrounds and areas, together with youngsters whose fathers had died and people whose dad and mom labored as labourers.

Recalling an interplay with a scholar on the ceremony, he stated he had requested the kid about his father’s occupation. “Prime Minister, my father is a labourer,” the coed had replied.

PM Shehbaz stated such circumstances mustn’t stop youngsters from creating their talents or pursuing schooling.

He thanked Rashid Minhas, founding father of the Tokyo Care Basis, for donating in the direction of the initiative, expressing gratitude on behalf of himself, his authorities and the scholars who would profit from the programme.

The contribution demonstrated the boldness of abroad Pakistanis within the nation’s younger folks and their talents, he stated, including that Pakistanis dwelling overseas labored laborious to lift the nation’s profile internationally.

He stated the donation had been made in recognition of the scholars’ intelligence and potential, and thanked the muse for its help.

The prime minister additionally spoke concerning the authorities’s efforts to offer high quality schooling by means of the Daanish faculties programme. He stated he had inaugurated a Daanish faculty in Islamabad a number of days earlier, whereas 27 extra have been underneath development throughout the nation.

“These faculties can be distinguished for his or her high quality of schooling, their academics and the services they supply,” PM Shehbaz stated, including that school rooms would have sensible boards and digital libraries, alongside sports activities grounds, residential dormitories and meals services.

“No baby has to spend a single penny at these Daanish faculties,” he stated, stressing that monetary circumstances mustn’t stand in the way in which of a kid’s schooling.

“It’s our accountability to make sure that our youngsters obtain the schooling and services they deserve,” the prime minister stated. “It ought to be the foremost responsibility of any authorities to construct the way forward for the kids of this nation, assist them grow to be nice people and nice Pakistanis, and take away the obstacles standing of their manner.”

PM Shehbaz additionally referred to 2 college students who had spoken on the ceremony, highlighting the challenges that they had overcome to proceed their schooling.

He talked about Syed Shams Raza, who belonged to a tribal space and whose father had been martyred, “Simply take into account how this baby is going through the hardships of life; you and I can’t even think about it.”

Referring to the Quranic instructing on martyrs, he stated Islam held those that had sacrificed their lives in excessive regard, whereas emphasising the resilience required of a kid rising up with out a father.

“I consider there usually are not only one or two, however 1000’s and a whole lot of 1000’s of outstanding youngsters like Syed Shams Raza on this nation,” he stated.

He additionally referred to the coed’s dedication to work laborious regardless of his circumstances, grow to be a succesful Pakistani and serve the nation when he grew up.

The prime minister praised one other scholar, a woman from Baltistan who attended a non secular seminary, for talking confidently about her schooling and ambitions.

She had instructed the gathering that she was enthusiastic about learning however had been given to grasp that college students from non secular seminaries wouldn’t obtain laptops or Chromebooks.

PM Shehbaz stated he needed to appropriate that impression, declaring that earlier laptop computer distribution programmes had additionally included some distinguished non secular seminaries alongside universities and schools.

He stated the present Chromebook programme would likewise cowl college students from each faculties and seminaries, with choice based mostly solely on advantage and laborious work.

“Solely your laborious work and talent would be the standards,” he stated.

The prime minister added that the gadgets wouldn’t solely assist college students pursue additional schooling however may additionally grow to be a supply of livelihood after they entered the workforce.

PM Shehbaz stated the advantages of the sooner laptop computer distribution programme had grow to be notably evident in the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, when college students had relied on expertise to proceed their schooling.

The laptops had proved extraordinarily helpful for college students throughout that interval, enabling them to attend college lessons and proceed studying regardless of the disruption brought on by the pandemic, he stated.

Learn: PM Shehbaz stresses equal alternatives in schooling to understand Quaid’s imaginative and prescient

He added that many beneficiaries had subsequently secured employment and grow to be certified medical doctors, engineers and professionals.

The expertise, he stated, demonstrated the significance of guaranteeing that proficient college students had entry to the instruments wanted to pursue their ambitions.

“Training is an adornment that makes you stand out in society, no matter the place you come from,” PM Shehbaz stated.

“Wealth might be stolen, prosperity can disappear, and there might be revenue and loss, however nobody can steal schooling, and nobody can steal capacity,” he added.

Concluding his tackle, Shehbaz invoked the poetry of Allama Iqbal, linking the event of latest concepts with the progress of countries.

The prime minister additionally recited verses about dedication and confidence, saying that when a nation’s caravan moved ahead with resolve and conviction, it could discover a manner forward.

He ended by expressing confidence in Pakistan’s potential, emphasising the significance of nurturing proficient younger folks and giving them the alternatives to contribute to the nation’s future.

Background

The federal government has beforehand distributed round 600,000 laptops to college students on advantage underneath the Prime Minister’s Youth Laptop computer Scheme, which started in 2014. In 2024 alone, 100,000 laptops have been distributed, whereas an additional 100,000 have been introduced for proficient college students in 2025.

The most recent Chromebook scheme comes alongside efforts to broaden native expertise manufacturing. In November 2025, Google started manufacturing Chromebooks in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence Manufacturing and the Nationwide Radio and Telecommunication Company (NRTC) in Haripur, with plans to provide round 600,000 gadgets yearly.

Pakistan additionally signed an settlement with Google in August 2026 to offer college students with one 12 months of free entry to superior AI instruments, together with Gemini, and provide 150,000 Google Profession Certificates to younger folks in 2026.