Review on Naway Sahar Laptop Scheme

Naway Sahar (New Dawn) Laptop Scheme, started by government of Khyber Pakhtun khwa to facilitate the TALENTED students of the province. Chief Minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti on Sunday, February 10^th, 2013 inaugurated the Naway Sahar Laptop Scheme by distributing 35 laptops among the topper students of BS Program under University of Peshawar and students of three affiliated degree colleges.

Around 23,147 laptops will be distributed through the scheme among the students who had achieved 70% or above marks in their last semester. Similarly, those students who had secured 60% marks during their annual examination will also be eligible for the laptop. Similarly, top forty position holders of government institutions from each board of intermediate and secondary education and board of technical education would also get laptops. KPK Govt. is ensuring transparency in the procurement and distribution of the laptops among some twenty three thousand plus students studying in the various degree programs in KPK’s public sector universities.

No doubt that this scheme indeed is a very good initiative for easy and fastest excess to the facilities of information technology. This will enable students to get benefit from the world latest and largest knowledge of their interest. This is just the beginning, and a lot more is needed to be done to achieve the world class standards.Nowadays computer particularly laptop is the need of every educated person. But it is very difficult for the Govt. to provide laptop to every student, therefore ultimately some criteria for selection is essential. Among the student community mostly reward and support is provided on the basis of:

• Merit as incentive to the Top positions/securing high level of marks
• To meet the need of the poor students who have no power of purchase

It is good to know that under this scheme up till now laptop distribution is going on with complete transparency among the students on merit. But the level of merit is the matter of concern. Is it just to line up the hardworking students of Top positions or those securing 85 % and above marks in the same rank with the students of least effort who secured 60/70% marks? The standard/ level of merit for this scheme are kept very low.

This scheme would have served a double purpose of motivation and incentive if the level of merit was kept reasonably high and preserved a quota for the REAL poor students. Hence besides equipping the students with laptop, this would have been a lead source for enhancing the spirit of competition and advancement in different fields.

Written By: HJ Habib