¡°Today is a good day,¡± said Preeti Aghalayam, director of a new Indian branch campus taking shape off the east coast of Africa. ¡°Today I had my residence and work permit stamped.¡±

This came just in time. Starting next month, the first students to enrol at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in Zanzibar (IIT-M Zanzibar) will cross its threshold.?

The launch of the overseas branch is a historic moment for Professor Aghalayam, the first female director of an IIT, as well as the institution and the IITs more broadly ¨C marking the first time they have ventured outside India.?

The Zanzibar campus, though, is no replica of its 60-year-old parent institution in Chennai,?she was quick to say. Most significantly, its offerings are different, with bachelor¡¯s and master¡¯s programmes in data science and artificial intelligence.

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¡°There¡¯s no point in copy-pasting things,¡± said?Professor Aghalayam, who comes to Zanzibar having spent 13 years at IIT-M,?most recently as a professor in its department of chemical engineering, having also worked on gender inclusion and?global engagement.

In Zanzibar, Professor Aghalayam is responsible for steering IIT-M¡¯s admissions process and criteria, which are run autonomously. While some have speculated that it could?become a ¡°back door¡± into the prestigious IITs, Professor Aghalayam refuted the claim.

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¡°People have also complimented us on the opportunity to do things differently and potentially better than we¡¯re able to do in the Chennai campus,¡± she said.

For instance, the parent institution has 400,000 applicants ¨C necessitating the use of a computer-graded, entrance exam, which is used by all IITs. Zanzibar doesn¡¯t face this deluge of demand, something its director sees as a silver lining.

¡°We have the opportunity to talk to these people. Every person who gets an offer letter is someone we¡¯ve had the opportunity to engage with.¡±

From a signed agreement by Tanzanian and Indian governments and IIT-M this June, the Zanzibar branch has nearly crossed the finish line to becoming a true institution, its director noted. Already, a sizeable number of the 80-odd candidates to receive offer letters have accepted places in this autumn¡¯s inaugural class.

¡°Right now, we¡¯re in the throes of student recruitment,¡± she said.

Just about everything at the institution has come together at a breakneck speed, from its director¡¯s 12th-hour work permit to the construction crews still modifying the facilities. Faculty recruitment for Zanzibar¡¯s first year ¨C with a mix of seasoned IIT-M professors and some new early career recruits ¨C was recently completed.?

¡°The biggest thing we had to come to terms with first is the rate at which we wanted to get this going,¡± she said. ¡°On paper, it¡¯s one thing to say you must strike while the iron is hot, but it¡¯s another thing to operationalise it. We¡¯re building an institution from a grain of sand, pretty much.¡±

The pace of change is especially impressive given that IITs are public universities, she noted.

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¡°The ball game is extremely different for a private institution¡­big governments move quite slowly.¡±

Professor Aghalayam credited education ministries on both sides,?as well as Zanzibar¡¯s government, which is funding the institution and has, she said, been welcoming ¡°right from the get-go¡±. ?

¡°I never expected I¡¯d say this as a lifetime academic, but it¡¯s been such a good partnership. We¡¯re learning from each other, we understand each other,¡± she said. ¡°If we plonk ourselves here as an outsider, I¡¯m not sure it will work. But if we¡¯re part of the education growth story of the region¡­it¡¯ll be extremely meaningful.¡±

Still, there¡¯s no denying that the partnership is a big boon for India, a foothold in Africa for the country, which has a strong track record in science and engineering education and ambitions to broaden its reach in the 51³Ô¹Ï South.

Already, student queries seem to indicate that cross-cultural mingling isn¡¯t far off. It¡¯s still a month before classes begin, but accepted students are already starting to ask questions about employment after graduation.

¡°Immediately these were questions that our Indian students asked: ¡®Can I work in Tanzania if I finish an edtech degree at your university?¡¯¡±

Some 50 per cent of Zanzibar¡¯s first batch of students, based on offers accepted so far, are Indian ¨C the other half coming from east Africa, including Tanzania as well as neighbouring Kenya and Uganda. But this isn¡¯t by design, Professor Aghalayam insisted, noting that ¡°there¡¯s no quotas¡±.

Still, she admitted that, for recruitment, her institution has a broader reach in India, where the IIT brand is strong, something that¡¯s not as true in Africa, where ¡°we¡¯re not so well known¡±. Gaining recognition among students and faculty there will take time, she recognised.

For now, though, Professor Aghalayam¡¯s biggest challenge is ensuring a soft landing for the scholars arriving next month.

¡°My focus in the next few months is toward the people, the dozen faculty from India that are going to come here. I want to ensure they¡¯re comfortable personally and also professionally challenged, and feeling like this is a worthy move for them,¡± she said.

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¡°Intellectual and professional satisfaction is key. I hope there¡¯s no compromise on that.¡±

pola.lem@timeshighereducation.com