According to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Tanzania might serve as a hub for technological education in Africa. As it develops a strategy to ensure that the nation’s top engineering universities have a presence on the global stage, the government is considering possibilities including establishing an offshore campus of IIT Madras in Tanzania.
On Friday, Pradhan met with Lela Muhamed Mussa, Zanzibar’s minister of education and vocational training. He also advocated for the establishment of a skill center in Zanzibar.
“India is pleased to support Tanzania’s IIT project. Africa’s center for technical education may be IIT in Tanzania. I proposed the support needed for project implementation and also mentioned India’s willingness to open a center for 21st-century skills in Zanzibar.
“Leela Muhamad Musa pledged of all the necessary support to make our partnership in education and skills more vibrant as well as for Tanzania and Zanzibar’s success.
“NEP is opening up new educational opportunities in India. In a series of tweets, Pradhan claimed, “I encouraged Tanzanian & African kids to study in India.
The Middle-East and South Asian nations have been asking several IITs to set up their campuses. A group led by Dr. K Radhakrishnan, chair of the IIT Council’s standing committee, was established by the Center earlier this year.
A variety of models for establishing the institute could be used depending on the location, such as campuses run by individual IITs, a consortium of IITs and HEIs, or an individual or group of IITs working with a reputable host university.
Given that the current IIT Act does not allow for the establishment of an IIT outside of the country, the panel has advised developing a generic system similar to IIT, NIT, or IISER, under which a number of institutes can be founded.
Among the other recommendations made by the panel are the renaming of IITs to “India International Institute of Technology,” sending faculty members from esteemed technology institutions here on deputations abroad, royalties from the institute established abroad for using the IIT brand name, and safeguards for preserving the IIT brand over the long term and in situations where the institute established abroad does not succeed for any reason.