After Abu Dhabi and African country Zanzibar, the UK might become the next destination to have the offshore campus of the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT). A top British government official recently expressed the country's interest in collaborating with India's premier institutes.
News agency PTI quoted an official from the British government mentioning their keen desire of having an offshore campus of the IIT in the UK. He also noted that some UK universities are already in talks with IITs to explore the possibility.
Similarly, many universities from the UK are also looking forward to set up their branch campuses in India and are working out on formulating a final regulatory framework from the University Grants Commission (UGC). The official said that the UK was in a process of clearing the regulatory framework so that universities from their country are able to setup their campuses in India.
Steve Smith, the International Education Champion of the UK government, noted that discussions were ongoing between the governments and authorities of the two countries for setting up campuses of IITs in the UK. "Nothing would symbolise better the genuine two-way nature of the relationship between the two countries than IITs or other top institutions in India deciding to set up campuses in the UK. So we are very open to that," he said.
The official was leading the delegation that visited India for India-UK Higher Education Conference organised by the British Council on September 18 and 19 in Delhi. The delegation visited India to meet key stakeholders with discussions on internationalisation of higher education institutions through partnership, dual degrees and research collaborations. They conference organised by the British Council on September 18 and 19 in Delhi.
Two of India's top IITs have already entered into agreements with foreign countries for setting up their offshore campuses abroad. While IIT Madras is setting up its campus in Tanzania's Zanzibar, IIT Delhi is setting up an offshore campus in Abu Dhabi.
PM Modi had earlier noted that many countries in the world were approaching India to open overseas campus at their place. The world is eyeing to take inspiration and learn from India's globally celebrated education system in the field of Science and Technology.
The increase in India's industrial reputation and startup growth ecosystem has attracted the attention of many global universities. Many of our IIT graduates have gone on to top jobs and are leading the global markets.