９歳のベルギー天才児、卒業予定だった大学を中退

【ハーグＡＦＰ＝時事】ベルギー人の9歳の天才大学生、ローラン・シモンズ君が、電気工学を学んでいたオランダのアイントホーフェン工科大学を卒業間際に中退した。卒業時期をめぐり大学側と意見が分かれ、折り合いがつかなかったという。ローラン君の父親が10日明らかにした。（写真はオランダの首都アムステルダムの自宅で写真撮影に応じるローラン・シモンズ君）
　ローラン君をめぐっては、１２月中に同大から学士号を授与され、世界最年少の大学卒業生の一人となるとの見通しが世界中で報じられていた。
　しかし、父親のアレクサンダー・シモンズさんはＡＦＰに対し、大学側が学位授与を来年に延期したがったため、中退したと説明。ローラン君には新しい計画があると強調し、国外の大学から「すでに２件の誘いを受けている」と述べた。
　アイントホーフェン工科大学の発表によれば、大学側が提案した日程も来年半ばに学士課程を修了できる内容で、「いずれにせよ極めて早い日程のはずだった」が、ローラン君の「両親が受け入れなかった」という。
　同大は「父親は息子が９歳のうちに学位を取得させたいと繰り返した」が、「１２月２６日の１０歳の誕生日までの期間と、終えなければならない試験の数を踏まえ、この日の卒業は不可能だと考えた」と説明している。
　ローラン君は４歳で入学した小学校を１年半で卒業。小学校入学からわずか５年で大学卒業に迫っていた。１１月のＡＦＰとのインタビューでは、将来は「人の命を延ばすために人工臓器を作りたい」と語った。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2019/12/12-08:57）

A nine-year-old Belgian boy who was due to graduate in electrical engineering has dropped out of his Dutch university due to a dispute over the end date of his degree, his father said Tuesday.
Young prodigy Laurent Simons hit the headlines worldwide when it emerged he was on course to receive his degree from the Eindhoven University of Technology in December and become one of the world's youngest graduates.
But his father Alexander told AFP he had now quit because the university wanted to delay his degree until next year, while insisting his son now had new plans.
Today he already got two offers from foreign universities, Alexander Simons said. We have good times ahead of us.
The university said in a statement that it had suggested a timetable that would have allowed him to finish in mid-2020, which would have been in any case a very fast timetable.
His parents decided not to accept this plan and to end his studies here. We regret that, it said.
His father repeatedly said he wanted his son to get his degree at the age of nine, which would have meant Laurent had to complete a three-year course in the space of just 10 months, the university said.
Laurent is an unprecedently talented boy whose way of working is exceptional. Nevertheless, the university did not believe that this end date was feasible given the number of exams Laurent had to pass before his 10th birthday on December 26.
Born to a Belgian father and Dutch mother, Laurent was for the early part of his life raised by his grandparents in the Belgian coastal resort of Ostend.
Starting school at four, he completed primary in a year and a half. It has taken him just five years to go through primary and secondary school and university.
Laurent told AFP in November that he eventually wanted make artificial organs to prolong life -- while adding that his hobbies also included TV and his pet dog.