Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formally rolled out the PM Youth Chromebook Scheme on October 25, 2026, during an Islamabad ceremony. The initiative aims to hand out 500,000 Chromebooks to students across a two-year span under the Prime Minister's Youth Programme, along with MiFi internet gadgets and bags to support remote learning.

Only pupils registered in public or government schools qualify for the project, while private institution attendees remain excluded. Top-achieving Grade 9 students qualify in Punjab, Balochistan, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Meanwhile, applicants from Islamabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan may apply starting from Grade 10, with individual education boards determining merit thresholds.

Candidates must submit their applications digitally via the official web portal at pmychromebooks.ibcc.edu.pk. Users begin by picking their education board, inputting their birth date, and supplying their B-Form or CNIC number. Following system validation, candidates upload necessary paperwork and finalize the submission.

Four specific files are mandatory for the application. Candidates need to provide a fresh passport-sized photograph alongside their SSC-I or SSC-II grade sheet. They must also include verified copies of a parent identification card and their own B-Form or CNIC, keeping every digital file below 300 KB.

Submissions are restricted to a single attempt per student, and forms cannot be modified once sent. False details risk invalidating the grant, and individuals whose data is missing from the database must reach out to their respective board or school.

During his opening address, Shehbaz Sharif emphasized fair, merit-focused distribution, stating that hard work and intellect should not be restricted by financial standing. He also verified that students attending religious seminaries qualify for the distribution.

This initiative outpaces the earlier laptop distribution project overseen by Nawaz Sharif, which delivered roughly 600,000 laptops across a decade. By comparison, the new project targets 500,000 devices within a 24-month window.

PM Youth Programme Chairman Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan addressed the opening event as well. The Tokyo Technology Care Foundation committed backing for digital infrastructure benefiting 500,000 students, and founder Rashid Minhas contributed financial support to the project.

This effort connects with recent collaborations between Pakistan and Google. Google started producing Chromebooks inside Haripur in November 2025 with an annual output goal near 600,000 units, and Pakistan finalized an August 2026 pact granting students one year of complimentary Gemini AI usage.

The digital submission portal via the IBCC platform is currently active for qualified students, though authorities have not yet announced an official closing date.