Recently, India has celebrated Bal Diwas (Children’s Day) on 14th November (as India’s first prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehruji’s birthday). Keeping a neutral and unbiased short view regarding ongoing international conflicts, I would say, every child’s life matters including both, Israeli or Palestinian. Hope for a peaceful solution for both.
India truly believes in वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम् (Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam, which means “The World Is One Family” and recently, that is the theme of India’s G20 presidency) and supports the development of children of other developing partner countries too. We are all familiar with African kids impacted by the past or present conflicts in Africa. We all also know the importance of quality education in children’s or youth’s lives. That’s one of the reasons why India isn’t just setting up the campuses of our premier public technical universities in our developed partner countries like the UAE & the UK etc, but also in Africa. India’s efforts to bring world-class education to Africa are showing India’s willingness to ensure that Africa has access to the best educational opportunities, facilities and development available, paving the way for a brighter future for students across Africa.
Apart from a reputed private US university, Carnegie Mellon University, I don’t know if any other reputed private or public technical university of any other country (outside Africa & excluding India and the US) has a campus in Africa. To my knowledge, India is the only country whose government-funded premier public technical universities have set up campuses in Africa.
In April 2023, India’s National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU) opened its first overseas campus in Jinja, Uganda, Africa and became the first government university of India to open a campus anywhere abroad. NFSU is an institution of national importance and the world’s first university dedicated exclusively to forensic sciences. The NFSU currently has 9 campuses in India.
In July 2023, Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT M) became the first IIT to establish an international campus on Zanzibar Island, Tanzania, Africa. IIT Madras is an institution of national importance and is ranked among the world’s top engineering universities. The IIT currently has 23 campuses in India.
