The Zanzibar campus, which is the first offshore campus of any IIT, was inaugurated on 6th November 2023 by President of Zanzibar, Hussein Ali Mwinyi.
The campus has started in its first semester with students from different countries including Zanzibar, India, Nepal and Tanzania Mainland. A total of 45 students have been admitted for a four-year Bachelor of Science degree in Data Science and AI and a two-year Master of Technology degree in Data Science and AI. At least 50 per cent of the admitted students are Indians and 40 percent of the admitted students are women.
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Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) Director Prof V Kamakoti officially inaugurated the IIT Madras Zanzibar campus virtually, whereas, H.E Dr Hussein Ali Mwinyi, President of Zanzibar inaugurated it within Zanzibar campus.
Prof V Kamakoti attributed the success of opening India’s first IIT campus abroad to both the Indian as well as the Zanzibar governments for speed tracking all the official procedures within 6 months and making it possible to start the Campus officially.
More than 200 acres of prime land has been sanctioned for the permanent campus by the Zanzibar government and the temporary campus in which the classes are being held is equipped with all facilities. All the funding for the campus is being undertaken by the Zanzibar government including the salaries of the faculty , as shared by an official statement by IIT Madras.
With 50 students selected for two courses which are BS in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science and MTech in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, classes commenced at the Zanzibar campus,the selection procedure involved an eligibility test followed by a personal interview.
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, dedicated faculty for the campus are being recruited and in the coming 5 years, IIT Madras plans to introduce 5 new courses in the Zanzibar campus.
While IIT Madras’ Zanzibar campus, has also become the first-ever IIT to have a woman director, meanwhile IIT-Delhi is setting up a campus in UAE.
It is believed after the G20 Education Summit several IITs have been receiving requests from the Middle East and South Asian countries to set up their campuses. It is being heard that IIT campuses are also in the pipeline in Egypt, Thailand, Malaysia and the UK.