PM Youth Chromebook Scheme — Free Chromebooks for Top Government School Students

Yes, the scheme is real. Under the Prime Minister's Youth Chromebook Scheme, the Government of Pakistan is giving 500,000 free Chromebooks to top-performing students of government and public schools. If you scored among the best students in your board in the Annual Examinations 2026, your name may already be on the list your board sent to IBCC — and you apply online through the official IBCC portal, not through any agent or shop.

This page explains the scheme in plain words: who gets a Chromebook, how the selection works, how the numbers are divided, and how the device actually reaches your home. If you are ready to apply, our sister guide at pm-chromebook-scheme.online walks you through every step of the application.

Quick facts

• Scheme name: Prime Minister's Youth Chromebook Scheme
• Launched: October 2026, by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif under the Prime Minister's Youth Programme
• Total devices: 500,000 Chromebooks, distributed over about two years
• Who can get one: Top-performing students of government/public schools, based on Annual Examinations 2026
• Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan: Grade 9 (SSC-I) toppers only
• AJK, Islamabad (ICT), Gilgit-Baltistan: Grade 9 (SSC-I) and Grade 10 (SSC-II) toppers
• Private school students: not eligible
• Where to apply: the official IBCC portal, pmychromebooks.ibcc.edu.pk
• Support: the programme is supported by the Tokyo Technology Care Foundation

What the scheme is

The Chromebook Scheme sits inside the Prime Minister's Youth Programme, the federal programme chaired by Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan. The idea is simple: a student in a government school in a small town works just as hard as a student in a big city, but often studies without a computer at home. A Chromebook puts textbooks, past papers, recorded lectures and online classes in that student's hands.

At the launch in October 2026, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced 500,000 Chromebooks for the country's brightest government school students. The devices are not handed out in one week. Distribution runs in phases over roughly two years, board by board, as each board finalises its list of top performers from the Annual Examinations 2026.

Who gets a Chromebook

Two things decide your eligibility: your school and your result.

First, your school. Only students of government and public schools are covered. If you study in a private school, you cannot apply under the current rules, even with top marks.

Second, your result. You need to be a top-performing student in the Annual Examinations 2026 — but "top" is decided by your own board, not by one national marks line. The Punjab boards, BISE Karachi, the KP boards and every other board each set their own criteria and send their lists of top performers to IBCC. So a student with 92 percent in one board may be on the list while a student with the same marks in another board is not, simply because the boards drew their lines differently.

Your class matters too, and it depends on where you study. In Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, only Grade 9 (SSC-I) students qualify this year. In Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Islamabad and Gilgit-Baltistan, both Grade 9 and Grade 10 (SSC-II) toppers qualify. We break this down board region by board region in our Chromebook scheme eligibility guide.

How the numbers are divided

The 500,000 devices follow a set quota. Out of every five Chromebooks, four go to school students and one goes to a seminary (madrasa) student. Inside the school share, 70 percent of devices are reserved for science students and 30 percent for arts students. This split is meant to keep the scheme from going only to big cities or only to one group of students. The full breakdown, and what it means for your chances, is covered in our quota and delivery explainer.

How the Chromebook reaches you

You don't collect the device from a school office. Once your application is verified, the serial number of your Chromebook is linked to your name, and the device is sent by courier to your home. Linking the serial number to a named student is deliberate — it keeps a clear record of exactly which device went to which student, from the warehouse to your door.

If something goes wrong — your name is missing from the list, your record looks wrong, or the device never arrives — complaint committees at board and provincial level handle these cases. You don't need a middleman, and nobody can "fix" your application for a fee. Anyone asking for money to get you a Chromebook is running a scam.

Applying, in short

The application itself happens only on the official IBCC portal. You select your board, enter your CNIC or B-Form number, roll number or registration number along with your date of birth, and the portal finds your record from your board's list. You then check your details, upload your documents, and submit. Each student can apply once, and a submitted form can't be edited — so check every detail before you press submit, and save the reference slip you get at the end.

Not the same as the PM Laptop Scheme

Pakistan already has a Prime Minister's Laptop Scheme, and the two are easy to mix up. The Laptop Scheme is for students enrolled in public universities — BS, MS and PhD students selected on merit through their institutions. The Chromebook Scheme is for school students, Grade 9 and 10, selected through their education boards. Different level, different device, different route. Our Chromebook vs Laptop scheme comparison lays out the differences side by side.

Common questions

Is the Chromebook completely free?
Yes. The device, and its courier delivery to your home, are free for selected students. If anyone demands a fee at any stage, that is not part of the scheme.

I am in Grade 10 in Punjab. Can I apply?
Not in this phase. For the Punjab boards (and Sindh, KP and Balochistan), only Grade 9 toppers from the Annual Examinations 2026 are covered. Grade 10 students qualify only under the AJK, Islamabad and Gilgit-Baltistan boards.

My marks are high but my record is not on the portal. What now?
Your record comes from your board's list. First, re-check the number you entered — try your roll number if the B-Form number failed. If it still doesn't appear, contact your board; the board and provincial complaint committees exist for exactly this problem.

Can I apply through my school or a form from a shop?
No. Applications are online only, on the IBCC portal. Paper forms and third-party websites are not part of the scheme.

The bottom line

The PM Youth Chromebook Scheme is one of the largest student device programmes Pakistan has announced: half a million Chromebooks, aimed squarely at government school students who topped their boards. If you are a Grade 9 topper anywhere in Pakistan — or a Grade 9 or 10 topper in AJK, Islamabad or Gilgit-Baltistan — check your record on the IBCC portal today. It takes a few minutes, it costs nothing, and your name may already be waiting there.