• Gifted. A 9-year-old Belgian child will be the youngest to finish a university degree

The nine-year-old prodigy Laurent Simons, known for his plans to finish the electrical engineering career in nine months, instead of three years, announced Tuesday that he is leaving the Dutch university where he was studying for a dispute between his parents and the center .

In a message on Instagram, the young Belgian explained that, after promising him that he could get his degree before his tenth birthday - on December 26 -, the TU Eindhoven University sent him an email in which he indicated that teachers have to adjust the learning schedule so you can graduate in mid-2020 , nine months later than promised.

As an argument, the Dutch university center says that the young person needs more time to develop the skills that belong to the final phase of the study, such as "understanding, creativity and critical analysis", and that the opposite would be "excessive pressure" about this child, who is only nine years old.

But the young man accuses the university of "lying a lot" , because everything was already "scheduled to end in December" and to be able to graduate in engineering, but, according to the local press the father, Alexander Simons, the center "wants to keep to Laurent there for longer " and his son must now think" in his career ".

The parent, who has given several interviews in recent months putting his son at the center of media attention, says they are already negotiating with other Dutch universities so that the child can enroll and finish the engineering career as soon as possible.

"We were told that with that media attention we put too much pressure on our son and, if we continue like this, we would have to do a psychiatric exam to Laurent," says Alexander Simons.

In addition, in statements to the newspaper "Het Parool", he adds that the university has accused his son of "plagiarism" and that "he would also have suspended an oral examination, which Laurent had not even done", and that was what led to talk with the principal before removing your child from the program.

In a statement, the university only says that there was a disagreement with the parents about the planned schedule and extends the hand to the minor if "he changes his mind, because he will always be welcome to finish his education", ensuring that "even if he obtains his university degree in mid-2020, that would be, in all aspects, an extraordinary time. "

"A faster schedule is not feasible and is unfavorable for Laurent's academic development. As a university, we have spent a lot of time to customize (the program) to facilitate a quick path of study. This has required a large investment by of teachers and employees , who are already facing a heavy workload, "he adds.

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