New DelhiWith the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) planning operational offshore campuses by 2023, IIT officials are meeting education department officials in countries that are being seen as potential destinations, ThePrint has learned.
Sources at IIT Delhi said that a team of officials from Abu Dhabi’s Ministry of Education visited the IIT Delhi campus last month, following which a team of two members from IIT Delhi is scheduled to visit the country in the next two weeks. He further added that more trips are planned in the coming months.
While IIT Delhi is set to open an offshore campus at Abu Dhabi, IIT Madras in Tanzania and IIT Kharagpur in Malaysia.
IIT sources with knowledge of the matter told ThePrint, “Unlike other new IITs (established in India), which were in the hands of the older ones, the international IITs will be run (directly) by the founding IITs for 5-10 years . before they become self-sufficient. The teachers who teach in these institutes will also be hired by the founding IITs and will be paid as per the industry standards in that country. ,
Institute director V. Kamakoti said that IIT Madras has also formed a team for global engagement at the institute, which will lead the process.
Kamakoti said: “As of now we are in a fuzzy stage of discussion. We are still talking about what they have to offer, what we can offer. We are looking at a one year timeline. We are looking at this complex. We can also collaborate with other IITs to help establish this. This is an evolving process.”
ThePrint reached out to an IIT Delhi spokesperson over the phone, but he declined to comment on the issue. ThePrint also reached IIT Kharagpur by mail, but did not receive any response till the time of publication of this report. The copy will be updated once a comment is received.
University Grants Commission (UGC) in January last year amended For its regulations to allow “institutes of excellence” to set up campuses abroad, after prior approval of the Ministry of Education and no-objection certificates from the Ministry of External Affairs and Home Affairs. The amendments were made in line with the New Education Policy 2020, which encourages Indian institutions to go global.
read also, MNC Jobs, High Pay – After IITs, IIMs, lesser-known private colleges are upping the placement game
Across borders
Meanwhile, directors of 23 IITs in the country came together for a first of its kind two-day event – IIInventiv – to conclude on Saturday, where the institutes showcased their research and development projects at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. A bid to promote industry-academic collaboration.
Center in February Make A 17-member committee led by IIT Council Permanent Chairman K Radhakrishnan to plan for offshore IIT campuses. While the IITs will follow the guidelines given by the committee, they are also contemplating to go beyond its purview to ensure the successful functioning of the IITs.
Earlier this month, the committee had reportedly suggested that IITs charge royalty for offshore campuses.
“The IITs that have been established should get something back from the institute abroad. For example, there may be a royalty for using an IIT brand. There should be safeguards to save the IIT brand in the long run. Every effort should be made to ensure that the IIT brand is not diluted in any way, if for any reason one of the institutes established abroad does not perform well,” the panel had said. Told in its recommendations.
According to sources, IIT Abu Dhabi, the intended name of the institute to be set up in that middle-eastern country, will also admit a certain number of Indian students for undergraduate and postgraduate programs through a joint entrance exam.
IITs are also looking at the existing infrastructure that these countries have and need.
“We have found that Tanzania has good undergraduate degree programs and they are looking for more postgraduate courses. So we are in talks with them and trying to understand what kind of areas they are looking at, Kamakoti said.
He added: “We are also studying the parameters of the industry in Tanzania. For example, fields like mining, metallurgy can be important in Tanzania, so allied courses will be very important for them. Then we are also looking at the industries that exist there, if any Indian industry in those areas can cooperate and provide employment to their students.
(Edited by Polomi Banerjee)
read also, Will change methodology, says Times Higher Education after IITs continue to boycott rankings