Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif launched the Prime Minister’s Youth Chromebook Scheme in Islamabad on Sunday, promising 500,000 Chromebooks to talented students from schools and religious seminaries across Pakistan over the next two years. The devices will be awarded strictly on merit, regardless of a student’s financial background, and will come with bags and MiFi internet devices. The prime minister said poverty should not hold back talented children, recalling that earlier governments had distributed 600,000 laptops over a decade. The new scheme aims to move far faster, at about 250,000 devices a year, so students can attend classes remotely, use e-libraries and build digital skills. Seminary students are explicitly included, after one student said madrasa pupils had feared they would be left out. If delivery matches the promise, the scheme could narrow the digital gap for students in smaller towns and remote areas, though its success will ultimately be judged by how fairly and transparently the merit lists are drawn up. Sources: Express Tribune, The News. Written in our own words for information only.