IIT-Madras’ campus in Tanzania to be inaugurated in November: Edu Min Pradhan

NEW DELHI, Oct 10: IIT-Madras’ first offshore campus is set to be inaugurated in Tanzania’s Zanzibar
early next month, union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Tuesday.
The minister also said the Centre is encouraging top skill development institutions in India to go to
Tanzania and other African countries. He said he will be visiting the African country for the pivotal
role it is playing in promoting education.
Pradhan made the announcements at an event to confer on Tanzania President Samia Suluhu
Hassan, who is on a four-day visit to India, an honorary doctorate by the Jawaharlal Nehru
University.
“I am happy that the first offshore campus of any IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) is being set up
in Zanzibar. I am told that IIT-Madras’ Zanzibar campus is scheduled to be inaugurated early next
month,” the minister said.
“This institute will prove to be a milestone in educational cooperation between two nations and
continents by providing students from Tanzania and other African countries access to world-class
engineering and technology education, which will help in nation-building and drive economic
growth, technology, development and research and innovation in Africa,” Pradhan added.
An MoU, signed in July between India and Tanzania, was the final procedural step that paved the
way for the opening of the campus.
The institute will offer two full-time academic programmes — a four-year Bachelor of Science in Data
Science and Artificial Intelligence and a two-year Master of Technology in Data Science and Artificial
Intelligence.
“Guided by our national education policy, India is actively contributing to deepen cooperation with
our development partners in Africa. We are encouraging our best skill development institutions to
go to Tanzania and other African countries.
“I will also be coming to Tanzania for this pivotal role in promoting the education agenda
domestically and regionally through its national strategy for growth and poverty reduction,” Pradhan
said.
IIT Madras’ Zanzibar campus, has also become the first-ever IIT to have a woman director.
The total student intake will be 70, including 50 students for Bachelors and 20 for Masters courses.
The fees will be USD 12,000 per year for the bachelors course while for the masters course, it will be
USD 4,000 per year.
Several IITs have been receiving requests from the Middle-East and South Asian countries to set up
their campuses. While IIT-Madras is setting up its campus in Tanzania, IIT-Delhi is setting up a
campus in UAE. IIT campuses are also in the pipeline in Egypt, Thailand, Malaysia and the UK. (PTI)