Among religious, a good number are brighter intellectually. They also tend to be professionals with work experience before they enter, attracted by vocation promoters and desirous of doing something about the social issues of the country. In Sri Lanka too they tend to come from poorer and middle class families, some of whom send their boys to the minor seminary to learn English. Some join the seminary to avoid the military conflict between the Tamils and the Singhalese only to find tension between the two groups in the seminary. Many have difficulty in communicating in English.
Seminarians tend to be older in Korea and Singapore.
Many enter with a professional background and two years of military service. The only information I have about China indicates that they come from traditional Catholic families. Most are recommended by their pastors who expect them to return after four to six years of theological education. The seminarians themselves feel that the training is insufficient and outmoded for their work, that their teachers are too old and strict, and that their textbooks are pre Vatican 11, published in the 1920s and 1930s. In the Philippines many seminarians come from rural areas and lower income families.