THE number of students studying at the Open Learning Institute (OLI) has increased dramatically since the institute admitted its first batch of students 51/2 years ago.
The institute began this semester with a record enrolment of 18,515 students, including 2,906 new students. This represents a more than four-fold increase since the first 4,000 students enrolled in October 1989.
Business administration remains the degree programme with the highest number of students - more than 6,000.
Other popular programmes include applied computing, nursing, Chinese arts and humanities and education, with 1,000-plus students in each programme.
Institute director Professor Gajaraj Dhanarajan said: 'The good response to our degree programmes in nursing and education has affirmed our direction to introduce more new programmes for in-service professionals.
'We will present the Bachelor of Education for secondary teachers in the coming October semester. Also in the pipeline are the banking and finance programmes and the Master's Degree in Business Administration.' Institute students represent a broad cross-section of the community. More than 70 per cent of students are aged between 26 and 40, with the average age being 32. The oldest and youngest students are aged 71 and 17.