Students Can Now Get 500,000 Chromebooks for Free

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif officially launched a scheme to provide 500,000 Chromebooks and internet access to students across Pakistan. The launch ceremony took place in Islamabad, where the PM addressed the event. This initiative, called the Youth Chromebook Scheme, is a follow-up to the previous laptop distribution to thousands of academically meritorious students.

The Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, in collaboration with the Prime Minister’s Youth Program, will distribute the 500,000 refurbished Chromebooks over a span of three years. The devices will be awarded to high-performing Grade 9 students, whose performance will be based on their SSC-I results, validated by the Inter Boards Coordination Commission (IBCC).

To be eligible, students must secure at least 50 percent marks. All eligible students can apply for the PM Youth Chromebook Scheme, available on the provided guide. In each province, four out of five devices will be granted to school students, while the remaining one will be allocated to madaris students. Among school students, 70 percent of the quota is reserved for science subjects, and 30 percent for arts.

The distribution of devices will be province-wise, with Punjab receiving 181,090 devices, Sindh 85,925, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 51,170, and Balochistan 31,815. Islamabad will be allocated 100,000 units, while Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan will receive 25,000 each. The devices will be directly delivered to verified students via courier, with a central monitoring system tracking the distribution.

Additionally, grievance committees will be established at both board and provincial levels to address any complaints. The government had previously announced the 500,000 Chromebooks earlier this week.