The line chart illustrates the proportion of between the ages of 18 and 25 year olds students in universities in four countries from 1962 to 2011.
Overall, it is apparent that the proportion of Malaysia and Philippines students followed broadly similar upward trend throughout the period shown in the chart. Meanwhile, Thailand recorded the highest percentages of students in universities in the last decades.
At the beginning of the period, the proportion of 18-25 years old in universities in Thailand stood at approximately 24%, considerably higher than the figures for in Singapore, at around 15%. The Thailand students studying in universities declined modestly, reaching at 19% in 1971. Thereafter, there was a dramatic increase and their percentage almost doubled by the end of the period. Meanwhile, the students of Singapore experienced several fluctuations until 2001 and reached a peak of about 40% in 2011.
Regarding to the Philippines, the proportion of universities students accounted for about 7% in 1981. Subsequently, this figure relatively constant at around 8% in 1971 before increasing rapidly to just below 15% in 2011. A small minority (2%) of Malaysian students went the universities in the initial year. This percentage grew significantly and reached 15% by 1991. Then, the figure remained stable at approximately 15% students between 1991 and 2011.
