IIT’s first international campus to come up in Tanzania this October

The prestigious Indian Institute of Technology’s (IIT) first international campus in Zanzibar Island in Tanzania will commence classes from October this year with two full-time academic programs to start with. The initial student intake will be 70, which will be increased over the year, with the IIT-Madras planning to set up a permanent campus spread across 200 acres in the African nation.

The first international campus of any IIT, the premier engineering institute in India, will offer a 4-year BS (Data Science and AI) and a 2-year Master of Technology in (Data Science and AI). Admission process for the first academic year of 2023-24 has commenced and the classes are scheduled to start from October, the IIT-M said on Monday.

India and Tanzania recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for setting up the institute, which is touted as a unique and game-changing educational partnership between India and Zanzibar-Tanzania.

Also Read | Jaishankar attends reception onboard INS Trishul along with Zanzibar President

A temporary campus with comfortable accommodations for offices, classrooms, auditoriums and student dorms has been identified in Bweleo district in Zanzibar. The permanent location of IITM Zanzibar is 200+ acres in an up-and-coming area of Zanzibar Island, with the master plan being developed by IIT-M experts.

IIT-M Director Prof V Kamakoti said in New Delhi that faculty will be deputed from IIT Madras or recruited from India during the initial days of this campus.

“It is indeed a major milestone in this history of IIT Madras that we are establishing a Campus at Zanzibar. Through this, we look forward to active participation in the future higher education initiatives at Zanzibar,” Kamakoti said.

Activities to ensure local talent is developed and can be employed as faculty are underway already, the IIT-M said, adding that India offers numerous scholarships for citizens of Tanzania/Zanzibar to study in various degree programs at IIT Madras in Chennai.

“This is the most significant step forward in the internationalization efforts of IIT Madras. A detailed strategic plan that includes increasing the number of international students, fostering meaningful and synergistic joint degree programs with international academic institutions and enhancing faculty/student mobility has been laid out by us,” Prof Raghunathan Rengaswamy, Dean (Global Engagement), IIT-M, said.

With the National Education Policy (NEP) encouraging opportunities for the expansion of Indian higher education outside the country, the Ministry of Education received “strong interest and excitement” from Tanzania. After several delegation visits on both sides, the partnership was found to be ideal and the first international campus of an IIT is now ready to launch in Zanzibar-Tanzania, the institute added.

The faculty strength will be based on required teaching expertise and the quality assurances of IIT Madras including but not limited to maintaining robust faculty-student ratios. The IITM Zanzibar campus is planned to have a structure with degree programs hosted by schools.

The Office of Global Engagement, IIT-M, will coordinate the student entrance process, which will include a screening test developed by faculty experts at IIT-M and an interview, as per the IITM Senate-approved admission process for international students, the IIT-M added.