Prime Minister launches Chromebook scheme for 500,000 students, with a MiFi device for each
Recipients from public schools and religious seminaries are to be picked on merit over two years, with the Tokyo Technology Care Foundation backing the programme.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif launched the distribution of 500,000 Chromebooks to high achieving students on Sunday, 25 October, at a ceremony in Islamabad. Each selected student also receives a MiFi device for internet access and a bag.
The Chromebooks are meant for students from public schools and religious seminaries, chosen purely on merit, whatever their family income or institution. The government aims to hand out all 500,000 within two years under the Prime Minister's Youth Programme.
Connectivity in the kit
Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan, chairman of the Prime Minister's Youth Programme, announced high speed internet connections for 500,000 students. Each connection can serve up to five people, so the programme counts access for 2.5 million people. Chromebooks run Google's ChromeOS and lean heavily on an internet link, which is why the MiFi device is part of the kit.
The Tokyo Technology Care Foundation is a partner. Its chairman, Rashid Minhas, said the foundation signed a memorandum of understanding with the government to help students in schools and seminaries expand their digital reach, and that the aim is to make them creators in the digital world. The Express Tribune reported that Minhas, the foundation's founder, donated toward the initiative. Sharif said seminary students are included in the scheme.
Sharif said the earlier laptop scheme put about 600,000 laptops in students' hands over roughly ten years. The new programme sets out to reach 500,000 students in two, which works out at about 250,000 devices a year if handed out evenly.
Who was in the room
Federal Education Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said Pakistan's youth population of 150 million is an asset to national development. Two students, Syed Shams Raza and Alma Mahak Sabir, were recognised at the event. Ministers, parliamentarians, the Punjab Assembly speaker, vice chancellors and ambassadors attended.
“Only your hard work and ability will be the criteria.”
Sharif said poverty should not stop young people from pursuing higher education, and that wealth must not hinder access to it. He noted that a Daanish School has opened in Islamabad with 27 more campuses under construction. Each selected student is to receive the Chromebook, the MiFi device and the bag together. The 500,000 Chromebooks are due to be handed out within two years of the launch, which puts the last deliveries in October 2028.
