PM Shehbaz launches scheme to give 500,000 students Chromebooks

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday launched the PM Youth Chromebook Scheme, under which the federal government says it will distribute 500,000 Chromebooks with MiFi internet devices to students across the country within two years, selected on merit from mainstream schools and religious seminaries alike.

Speaking at the launch ceremony in Islamabad, the prime minister said intelligence and hard work should not be "held captive by wealth and poverty," and that only merit and ability would decide who receives a device. Recipients will also get bags and MiFi devices to attend online classes and use electronic libraries from home.

Dawn and Geo News reported that the machines were described as refurbished, and that banners at the ceremony read "500,000 refurbished Chromebooks." The Nation's account of the event did not describe them as refurbished.

Shehbaz compared the new scheme with the laptop programme launched under former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, saying about 600,000 laptops had gone to students on merit in Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir over roughly 10 years, while the Chromebooks are to be delivered in two.

He said 27 Daanish schools were under construction across the country besides one he recently inaugurated in Islamabad, offering smart boards, electronic libraries, sports grounds, dormitories and meals at no cost to students. "No child has to spend a single penny at these Daanish schools," he said.

According to ARY News, the prime minister said the MiFi connectivity would extend to family members, reaching an estimated 2.5 million people. ARY News also reported that Federal Education Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui told the ceremony the government was working to turn the country's youth into a productive national asset, and that Tokyo Technology Care Foundation chairman Rashid Minhas said a memorandum signed with the government was aimed at a national digital revolution. The Nation named the donor body the Tokyo Care Foundation and credited its founder Rashid Minhas.

The Nation reported that two students spoke at the ceremony: Syed Shams Raza, from a tribal area, whose father was martyred, and a girl from Baltistan who attended a religious seminary and had raised the concern that seminary students might be excluded from such schemes. ARY News named her as Alma Mahak Sabir and said both students thanked the prime minister. Shehbaz said the programme covers madrassah students as well as those enrolled in colleges and universities.

Pakistan has been expanding local Chromebook production. In November 2025, Google began manufacturing the devices with the Ministry of Defence Production and the National Radio and Telecommunication Corporation in Haripur, with plans for about 600,000 units a year. In August 2026, Pakistan signed an agreement with Google for a year of free access to advanced artificial intelligence tools including Gemini, and 150,000 Google Career Certificates for young people during 2026.

Separately on Sunday, The Nation reported that the prime minister met Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Ali Hussam Asghar and constituted a committee to review the chamber's proposals on industry and jobs.