Higher education in Asian countries and the role of international ...

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capita is more than US$ 8000. East Asia has the high literacy rate and gross enrolment ratio at all
levels. Rapid growth has also been witnessed in East Asia and the Pacific, where the number of
students has risen twelve-fold, from 3.9 million in 1970 to 46.7 million in 2007. Since 2000, the
number has grown by an average of 10% each year, compared to 6% for the period between
1970 and 2000. (UNESCO, 2009).
4.7.2 South East Asia
Southeast Asia consists of Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos PDR, Malaysia,
Burma (Myanmar), Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam. These
countries share many commonalities but this sub-region is not homogeneous in terms of socio-
political system, economic development and prevalence of education. The development diversity
is presents two extremes ends from wealthy Singapore to the much poorer Greater Mekong Sub-
region countries (Lee & Healy, 2006). Higher education is expending in all of the countries as an
increase has been seen in the participation rate: from 8.6% in 1990 to 24.3 in 2009. Likewise
school life expectancy from primary to tertiary level also increased from 8.3 years to 12.2 years
during the same period; an increase of approximately four years.
.