Zanzibar: The first IIT campus outside of India will come up at Zanzibar Island, which is a semi-autonomous province of Tanzania. This was announced by Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on July 6 during the visit of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to the United Republic of Tanzania.
According to a report, the educational authorities of both countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for setting up an IIT Madras campus in Zanzibar. The MoU was signed in the presence of India’s High Commissioner to Tanzania, Binaya Pradhan, Dean at IIT Madras, Raghunathan Rengaswamy and Acting Principal Secretary of Zanzibar’s educational ministry, Khalid Masoud Wazir.
The signing was witnessed by S Jaishankar and Zanzibar’s President, Hussein Ali Mwinyi.
In a tweet the External Affairs Minister said that this historic step reflects India’s commitment to the Global South. He added that this is the first time that the IIT is going out into the world. This is one of the most important brand and one of the most important educational institutions. He said that he is glad that the IIT is foraying into the world.
The IIT at Tanzania’s Zanzibar will open in October with a batch of 50 undergraduate students and 20 students for the master’s program. The admission criteria will be decided by IIT Madras and degree will be conferred by the institute. IIT Madras will also be responsible for planning pedagogical strategies for the offshore campus, said a MEA statement.
The campus is opened on the lines of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The NEP recommends encouragement of high performing Indian universities to set up campuses in other countries.
Notably, two more IIT campuses will be set up outside India; one in Abu Dhabi and the other in Kuala Lumpur.
S Jaishankar is on a four-day official visit to Tanzania and is set to hold high-level talks.
Comments