Nitesh Jain
NEW DELHI: Director of IIT Madras V Kamakoti has said that opening up the first IIT international campus in Zanzibar, Tanzania, was a major milestone in the history of the institute.
Addressing a press conference here, he said that through this, IIT Madras is looking forward to active participation in the future higher education initiatives at Zanzibar.
Prof. Kamakoti said that setting up the first IIT international campus in Tanzania is a defining moment between the two countries in terms of strategic partnership and the education sector. He informed that the first academic year of 2023-24 has commenced and the classes are scheduled to start from October 2023.
He said that the permanent campus will come up by 2026 and for this the Tanzanian government has already allotted 300 acres of land. India and Tanzania had signed MoU for setting up the campus of IIT Madras in Zanzibar in the presence of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Zanzibar’s President Hussein Ali Mwinyi during his recent visit to Tanzania.
Initially, the faculty will be deputed from IIT-M to Tanzania and subsequently local faculty members would also be recruited, said IIT-M in a press release. Prof. Preeti Aghalayam, Dean of School of Science & Engineering & Director-in-charge, Zanzibar campus, IIT Madras, said, “IIT Madras is proud to bring its deep and long-term education and research strengths to East Africa.”
