Shehbaz launches scheme to give 500,000 Chromebooks on merit

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday launched the PM Youth Chromebook Scheme, a federal programme under which 500,000 Chromebooks are to be given to students across Pakistan on merit within two years.

Speaking at the launch ceremony in Islamabad, the prime minister said his party's government had provided 600,000 laptops to students nationwide on merit over the past ten years, and said the new scheme would follow the same principle. Independent Urdu reported that he told the gathering the 500,000 Chromebooks would reach "millions of Pakistan's sons and daughters" within just two years.

Sharif said the devices would be awarded strictly in recognition of students' effort and academic ability, and assured that no discrimination would be allowed on the basis of a student's financial background or the institution they attend.

According to the outlet, he said the scheme would allow students to continue their studies through digital learning, reach online libraries and find new ways of acquiring knowledge. At the ceremony he handed Chromebooks and Wi-Fi devices to a number of students, and thanked Rashid Minhas, founder of the Tokyo Care Foundation, for donating to the project.

Chromebooks are laptops that run Chrome OS, an operating system that includes cloud storage and several layers of security.

Independent Urdu reported that Pakistan opened its first Google Chromebook assembly line in Haripur in November 2025, established under a public-private partnership between the government of Pakistan, Google and Tech Valley. According to the outlet, the line is expected to produce 500,000 Chromebooks by 2026.

The launch comes as Pakistan contends with one of the world's largest populations of children out of school. According to the 2023 census, about 25.4 million children aged between five and 16 do not attend school.

Poverty is among the most common obstacles to meeting education targets. In areas with no government school, families often cannot bear private school fees or the cost and difficulty of sending young children far from home, and in several areas security concerns and cultural restrictions place further barriers in the way of girls' education.