India’s top universities and the Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) are in talks to open up campuses and centres abroad.
On February 18, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) signed a deal to establish its first branch in the UAE as part of the India-UAE trade deal.
A joint UAE-India vision statement said that this will be the first time an IIT will be established outside India.
“Confirming the historical relations existing between the two countries and realising the need to establish world-class institutions that encourage and support innovation and technological progress, the leaders agreed to establish an Indian Institute of Technology in the United Arab Emirates.”
Further, according to a report, some other top Indian universities are also keen to open campuses to cater to international students in countries such as the United Kingdom (UK).
Recently, UK’s Minister for Higher Education, Michelle Donelan, tweeted:
“Our door is always open to the Indian Institutes of Technology, which could be a tremendous asset to this country. Mutual cooperation in Higher Education is a great source of strength and friendship between the UK and India.”
Data shows that in 2020-2021 there were 300 times more Indian students (53,000) enrolled here than British students (173) studying in India last year.
Experts say that at this rate of admission, Indian students will surely overtake Chinese students as the largest group on campus within the next three years.
UK’s former universities minister Lord Johnson of Marylebone believes it is imperative to increase education and research ties with India:
“If there is one country today with the human capital and economic potential to equal China and to become a knowledge partner of comparable importance for the UK it is India.”
Lord Johnson of Marylebone advises the Indian institutions keen to set up campuses in the UK:
“If an Indian higher education institution wants to set up in the UK, all it would have to do is to register with Office for Students, pass relevant quality assurance processes and crack on with it.”
As per the recommendations of the New Education Policy of India, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to internationalise Indian higher education.
This was confirmed by Gaitri Kumar, India’s High Commissioner to the UK.
Speaking at a webinar organised by the Observer Research Foundation, Kumar said:
“Foreign institutes of repute are invited to establish branches of their institutions in India. We have only last week shared the desire of our IITs to open campuses in the UK and I must say that this has been well received.
This is another thing I’ll be working on immediately to get the IITs and interested universities here together.”
She added:
“India would like her partners to consider India as more than just a market for education because we seek to forge international knowledge relationships, as we believe in an ancient proverb that knowledge is the only wealth that when shared enriches the giver and receiver.”
In the latest academic year, 84,000 Indian students are already enrolled in the UK.
While the new international student numbers in the UK is at record levels – 38% higher than pre-COVID, it is estimated that the number of both Indian international students and Indian-origin people in Australia will rise significantly in the coming years.
In India, there are 23 IITs, located in various regions, that offer undergraduate, postgraduate and doctorate level programmes in a range of subjects.
Now, the question for aspiring Indian-origin engineering students and parents is: would you like to see an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Australia?
