August 22, 2022

Reports Claim that UK, Middle East to Soon Get IIT’s...

F For the first time, IITs will be established on foreign soil, which is seen as good news for the expansion of Indian educational institutions abroad. According to sources, the GOI intends to invest in the establishment of IITs abroad through the "Indian International Institute of Technology" scheme.

Under the scheme the government plans to launch IIT campuses in the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Malaysia, and Thailand. The selected regions were chosen by a special committee headed by IIT Council standing committee chairperson Dr. K. Radhakrishnan.

News reports claim that the locations were chosen after consultation with Indian embassies abroad and the Economic Diplomacy section of the Ministry of External Affairs. Additionally, they claimed that the select group chose IIT residences based on a variety of considerations, including their level of commitment and interest, their academic background, their capacity to draw eminent faculty and students, their regulatory environment, and any potential benefits for enhancing India's reputation and relations.

…it has also requested a detailed concept note and a nodal contact point in order to move forward with this proposal...

Information provided by the Indian High Commission in the UK were also key in the choices of location of Indian IITS. The mission has "six concrete proposals of cooperation" from the universities of Birmingham, Exeter, Oxford, Cambridge, and King's College London. While speaking to the media, a source from the mission told the press, “Our mission has made multiple requests for a meeting between the universities and the IIT committee. It has further requested for a detailed concept note and nodal contact point for taking forward this proposal.”

Despite the recent concrete plan to launch Indian IITs abroad, experts claim that opening IITs abroad is not a novel idea. For instance, the Department of Education and Knowledge in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, is already a discussion topic with IIT Delhi, while IIT Madras is looking into Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Tanzania as potential locations.

Posted in News and tagged News, India, UK, Middle East, IIT, Indian International Institute of Technology
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