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Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India, IIT Madras and Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MoEVT) Zanzibar, Tanzania, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the presence of Hussein Ali Mwinyi, President of Zanzibar and S Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister of India.
Mr S. Jaishankar, in his tweet, applauded this step and stated that “this historic step reflects India’s commitment to the Global South.”
The Director of the Institution, Mr V Kamakoti, in his presidential address at IIT Madras’ 64th Institute day, announced that the classes in Tanzania campus are expected to start by October 2023.
Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-Madras) will set up its first overseas campus in the African continent. After the confirmation of IIT Delhi to set up its campus in Abu Dhabi, UAE and IIT Kharagpur to set up its campus in Malaysia, IIT Madras delegation visited Tanzania to set up its first overseas campus in Africa.
Earlier, the Center had made a 16-member committee headed by IIT Council standing committee chairperson Dr K Radhakrishnan to work on the possible roadmap for the expansion plans of IITs.
Following that, a team of five distinguished professors of IIT Madras – Professor Raghu Rengaswamy, Professor KN Satyanarayana, Professor Preeti Aghalayam, Professor Livy Philip and Professor Annamalai Mani visited Tanzania with the mission to establish its first overseas campus.
Mr Binaya Pradhan (An Indian diplomat and High Commissioner of India) tweeted that the establishment of an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Tanzania can be instrumental in the growth and nation-building of not only Tanzania but the entire continent.
On Twitter, Binaya Pradhan quoted, “IIT in Tanzania moving fast towards reality, the team of 5 Professors from IIT Madras visiting Tanzania; had excellent meetings in Zanzibar with HE President, Dr Hussein Ali Mwinyi, and Minister of Education HE Lela Muhamed; with Minister of Education of Tanzania HE Adolf Mkenda.”
Furthermore, he also thanked authorities for their support towards the project. “This would be the first IIT to be set up in Africa and can be instrumental in the growth and nation-building of not only Tanzania but of the continent; sincere gratitude to HE President of Zanzibar, Dr Hussein Ali Mwinyi, for his constant support for the project,” tweeted Pradhan.
Last year, Mr Dharmendra Pradhan (Union Education Minister) conducted a series of bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Tanzania, and Ghana to strengthen bilateral relations by making knowledge and skills collaborations a key pillar for growth. He also discussed the support provided by India for the IIT project in Tanzania with Lela Muhamed Mussa (Zanzibar’s Minister for Education and Vocational Training)
An overseas campus of IIT Madras in Tanzania is among the options of the central government’s projects as it works on a plan to ensure that the country’s premier engineering institutes have a presence on the global map.
IIT Madras Director, Prof V Kamakoti, said that apart from Tanzania and other African countries, the institute has also received requests from Nepal and Sri Lanka for setting up overseas campuses to offer courses in emerging areas, including artificial intelligence, data sciences and energy systems.
Prof Kamakoti said, “IIT Madras is in discussions with multiple countries, including Tanzania, regarding offshore campuses. We are considering many of these places. For African countries, programmes in mining are very important. In Nepal, there are demands for courses on energy systems. Courses in data sciences are in demand everywhere,”.
“We are looking at what sort of courses can be offered. There may be some country-specific courses on offer, as for some countries, some topics can be of relevance. We will be arriving at different models based on feasibility, employment potential in those countries,” He further commented.
While they may offer postgraduate courses initially in the proposed overseas campuses, the idea is to scale them up to the flagship undergraduate degree programmes offered by the IITs. IIT Madras benefits from its position as an Institution of Eminence while expanding overseas.
Apart from JEE Advanced scores, Scholastic Assessment Test or SAT scores might also be considered for admissions at the UG level. The usage of SAT scores for UG admission was suggested by IIT Delhi in its proposal to set up campuses in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. According to the proposal, the overseas campus will provide four-year UG programmes with a yearly intake of up to 240 students in four branches depending on SAT results. However, the proposal remains pending with the government.
Prof Kamakoti said, “As far as postgraduate programmes are concerned, we have our own entrance test and interview. The mechanism is well established. For UGs, we are looking at multiple options,”.
Moreover, UGC has already approved a joint degree model under which every higher educational institute, including the IITs, can collaborate with foreign universities to offer degrees.
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