KU gives away 107 laptops to students

Laptops given away as part of the second phase of PM Laptop Scheme

KARACHI: Of the 2,400 laptops allocated for the second phase of the Prime Minister (PM) Laptop Scheme, a total of 107 were distributed among the MPhil and PhD students of the University of Karachi (KU) at a ceremony held on Thursday.



The second phase of the scheme started in November 2015 and applications were submitted online to the Higher Education Commission's (HEC) website. KU validated the data after HEC marked a candidate as eligible on the portal.

A total of 1,153 students of MPhil and PhD submitted online applications from which 750 students were declared eligible by the HEC, announced KU vice-chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Qaiser during Thursday's ceremony held at KU's Dr AQ Khan Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering.



The scheme has benefitted a large number of students, researchers and scholars of the universities across the country. The second phase will cater to 2,400 students from Master's, Bachelor's and doctorate programmes. It was announced that remaining laptops for the second phase will be distributed by the admissions committee and the student adviser's office.

Munazah Raheem, an MPhil student at KU, was one of the students who received a laptop. "I applied in the first phase of the scheme but things did not work and the focal person advised me to apply in the second phase," she said.



Dr Qaiser explained why the first phase hit snags. There were some loopholes at the administrative end and students were kept in mind for the second phase instead, he said. He added that the current age is of digital knowledge and information technology has produced wonders in the field of education, research, culture and technological advancement.

"PM's Laptop Scheme is a great gift of knowledge to the youth of the country for a bright future," he said, pointing towards the students that they are lucky to be a part of the digital age. "You can prosper in the field of education and research as you have all the keys of information technology in your hands now."

HEC operations and planning member Dr Ghulam Raza Bhatti handed over the laptops to the candidates. He said that the PM has empowered the youth in the modern age by providing them access to technology. "The nation has high hopes from our youth and they must meet these hopes and expectations for the prosperity of our motherland," he added.

Dr Bhatti said that under the scheme, 0.6 million laptops have been distributed to students and researchers across the country so far. In the next five years, 0.5 million more will be distributed. He said that higher education is the PM's top priority and that this scheme is evidence to his determination to promote education and information technology in Pakistan.

The focal person of PM's scheme, Professor Dr Khalid Iraqi, said that the scheme promotes awareness and use of technology at a time when there is a tough competitive environment throughout the world. Besides promotion of academics, the scheme also supports social and economic betterment of the users, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 17^th, 2016.