About 100,000 students enrolled in government universities and colleges will soon receive free laptops as part of the Prime Minister’s Laptop Scheme, according to the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) for Youth Affairs, Shaza Fatima Khawaja.
She said in a Monday interview with APP that the programme will only award young people with high-quality laptops based on their merit.
“These laptops will be provided to all Ph.D. and postgraduate students, while the top performers in undergraduate programmes will also be included in the scheme,” she said.
The SAPM claimed that the laptop program’s allotted quota for Balochistan students has been doubled, along with quotas for students who are disabled and 50 per cent of the program’s allotted quota for women. Prime Minister Skilled Programme will provide skills and information technology training to up to 100,000 youth.
She claimed that the Pakistan Muslim League (N) government launched the Prime Minister Youth Program in 2013, which had six steps for empowering youth.
Khawaja rejected the impression of closing the Prime Minister Youth Loan Scheme terming it wrong, and added, the restructuring of this program has been done under which the loan limit has been revised.
“Now the youth will be provided interest-free loans up to Rs500,000, while loans from Rs500,000 to Rs7,500,000 will be provided on easy terms,” she told APP.
She emphasised the urgent need to provide these youth with skills education in line with market needs by stating that 20 lakh graduates enter the market each year after completing their education.
