The provincial government of Punjab has entered into a partnership with Google to offer 100,000 students free certification courses in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and business intelligence, in what marks one of the most ambitious public-private skills initiatives in the province’s recent history. The courses, each valued at between 400 and 1,000 US dollars, will run for three to six months and will carry no cost for enrolled students across Punjab. The announcement was made during a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz in Lahore, at which several significant education decisions were formally approved for immediate implementation across the province.
The meeting also saw the approval of scholarships for 62,949 students simultaneously, described as the largest single scholarship award in the history of Punjab. Billions of rupees have been allocated in phases to fund the Honhaar Scholarship Programme, with the Chief Minister directing that no eligible student be left out of the scheme. In parallel, modern information technology laboratories will be established in 166 government colleges across Punjab as part of a province-wide standardisation initiative for digital education, ensuring that students in government institutions have access to the physical infrastructure needed to benefit from the digital courses being made available through the Google partnership and other programmes.
For the first time, key performance indicators will be set for principals, teachers, university vice chancellors, and institutions to formally measure educational outcomes, introducing an accountability framework that has been absent from Punjab’s public education system. Thirty-six commerce colleges across 29 districts will also be formally affiliated with 19 public universities, offering 14 bachelor’s programmes including information technology and e-commerce, bringing previously isolated colleges into the mainstream of higher education and opening new qualification pathways for students in smaller cities and districts. The Chief Minister also approved an electric bus service for students and directed that minority and special-needs students be included in the second phase of the laptop distribution scheme.
On laptop distribution, over 38,000 students received devices in the first phase, while 142,000 applications have already been submitted for the upcoming second phase, reflecting the significant demand for digital tools among the student population. Assessment data presented at the meeting showed that 994,000 students sat the Grade 8 examinations, with female students recording a 92 percent pass rate against 84 percent for male students, with the top three positions in provincial results occupied by female students. The Chief Minister noted satisfaction at this outcome and directed authorities to take urgent action to improve the condition of educational institutions in Sargodha and several other underperforming areas. Taken together, the package of decisions from the meeting signals a comprehensive push to modernise Punjab’s education system, combining international partnerships, expanded scholarships, infrastructure investment, and digital access in a single coordinated effort.
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