IIT Delhi is expected to expand itself to increase the admission of international students as the enrollment of international students has significantly dropped in the last 2 years.
Several IITs have been receiving requests from Middle East and South Asian countries to set up their campuses in foreign countries. Few IITs are still exploring these options, but IIT Delhi is set to open an offshore campus in Abu Dhabi.
In August, the Centre requested IIT Delhi to explore the possibility of establishing a campus in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In a recent press conference, IIT Delhi announced that it is setting up an institute in Abu Dhabi. The Ex Dean of academics will be the coordinator for the IIT Abu Dhabi. IIT Delhi will soon hire faculty for the offshore campus in Abu Dhabi and will frame the curriculum for the institutes.ย
Recommendations on Setting up Off-shore IIT
Many of the IITs are considering the option of setting up an off-shore campus, so there were a few suggestions recommended by the Center Government 17-member panel, which are as follows:
Governance Structure
- The governance structure of IITs should be adopted for off-shore IITs.
- The governance structure should be such that the connection with the monitoring IITs is maintained, but any approval from the monitoring IIT or Indian Government should not be required.
More Freedom than Current IITs
- The act of Parliament through which the IITs are created should give the off-shore IITs more freedom as compared to the current ones.
- Since the off-shore IITs will have to adapt themselves as per the local laws and other legal and financial requirements, therefore they should have enough freedom to excel.
Royalty for Brand Label
- The establishing IITs should get back something, like royalty, from the institute abroad for using the IITs brand name.
Safeguard the IIT Brand
- The IIT brand should be safeguarded, to ensure that the IIT brand is not diluted in any manner if any of the off-shore institutes does not do well for whatever reason.
Updated Curriculum
- The curriculum structure should be flexible and multi-disciplinary.
- These institutes should have innovative, integrated dual degree programs combining technical courses with science, finance, humanities, arts, etc.
- These innovative courses are expected to have high demand and can give an edge to the newly established institute over the existing ones.
Creating a Generic System
- Since the current IIT Act does not allow the creation of IIT outside the country, so a generic system should be created similar to IIT, NIT, or IISER, under which a series of institutes can be established outside India.
The hiring of Local Agencies by the Indian Embassy
- The local agencies should be identified and on-boarded by the Indian Embassy in the foreign country.
- The hiring of these agencies should not be the responsibility of the monitoring IITs.
- However, the monitoring IITs should provide their requirements, and specifications, and interface closely with the selected agency to ensure timely progress.
Multiple Models for Establishment
- There could be more than one model of establishing the institute depending on the specific location like individual or group or IITs in collaboration with a reputed host university.
- The collaborations should be done with a reputed host university and should be entered with care so that the expectations and responsibilities of participating IITs are aligned with those of the host university.
IIT Delhi is expected to expand itself to increase the admission of international students as the enrollment of international students has significantly dropped in the last 2 years. IIT Delhi also offers 500 fully funded PhD fellowships for international students.
Apart from IIT Delhi, other IITs are also expected to expand soon. IIT Madras is looking to open its campus in Tanzania, while IIT Kharagpur is in Malaysia.
