Over 2 Million Students in Punjab to Get Computers

Government of Punjab will save Rs. 1.8 billion by using NComputing in over 4,000 schools

More than 2 million students in Punjab, Pakistan will soon receive computer education for the first time with the help of NComputing’s ultra low-cost virtual desktops. The Chief Minister of the Punjab has driven the program, which is setting up computer laboratories in more than 4,000 government-owned secondary and higher secondary schools.

NComputing virtual desktops have revolutionized learning in developed and developing countries by making computer access more affordable than ever before. The solution takes advantage of the fact that today’s computers are so powerful that the vast majority of applications use only a small fraction of the computer’s capacity. NComputing enables a single computer to be virtualized so that many users can tap the unused capacity and share it as if each person had their own computer.

In Punjab, each school will be furnished with a 15-seat computer lab will be run on 3 desktop PCs and 12 NComputing virtual desktops that will connect to the PCs. In addition to reducing purchase costs, electricity usage for these labs will be 90 percent lower than a traditional all-PC computer lab. Finally, when the useful life of the PCs is complete, only a few PCs will need to be upgraded – saving even more funds.

“It is a sustainable and environment-friendly project with very low recurring costs. In the overall context of the project, we are saving over Rs. 1.8 billions, which is almost 36% of the total project cost. As far as the electricity savings is concerned, the Government of Punjab would save another over Rs. 10 million per month as the NComputing devices use only 1 watt of electricity as compared to 110 watts or more for a typical PC,” says the IT Labs project’s Additional Programme Director Joudat Ayaz. “We have reduced the number of PCs being purchased and the cost of uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) has also been drastically reduced”.

“With the NComputing technology, a new era in computer literacy has started in Punjab which will enable the provincial planners to impart meaningful computer training at low cost,” said Mr. Saiyid Hasan Rashaad, VP of NConnexion, NComputing’s distributor and authorized service center for Pakistan & Afghanistan.

“NComputing is proud to have been chosen by the Government of Punjab to enhance computer literacy and to equip the future workforce of the country with the computing skills they need to compete on a global economy,” said Mr. Manish Sharma, Vice President of Asia-Pacific for NComputing. “NComputing has become a valuable contributor to the lives of millions of people across tens of thousands of institutions and organizations in more than 140 countries. We continuously endeavor to enable schools, businesses, and governments to expand and improve their computing capabilities at extremely affordable and sustainable costs.”