Laurent Simons, the 9-year-old prodigy boy, leaves university without graduating

• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in a new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in a new window)
• Click here to share on LinkedIn (Opens in a new window)
• Click to email a friend (Opens in a new window)

(CNN) - The child prodigy Laurent Simons left his university course, after a dispute over his graduation date.

Laurent, 9, made the world headlines in November when news emerged that he would finish his electrical engineering studies at Eindhoven University of Technology (TUE) in the Netherlands in December.

Now, a dispute between TUE and the Simons family has seen Laurent finish his studies without graduating.

Laurent, with his mother, Lydia, and his father, Alexander.

TUE said he had recommended that Laurent finish his studies in mid-2020, rather than at the end of December, due to the amount of exams he has yet to pass.

"This would continue to be, in every way, a phenomenally fast calendar," the university said in a statement sent to CNN.

TUE said Laurent's father, Alexander Simons, had “repeated his explicit desire that his son get his bachelor's degree at the age of 9, which means Laurent must successfully complete his bachelor's degree in ten months for a study that normally It lasts three years. ”

However, Alexander told CNN that previously there had been no problem with the accelerated calendar.

LOOK : Look at this 5-year-old boy who is a prodigy in the drum

Finally, he said, the family decided that Laurent would leave TUE since he had received an offer to study for a doctorate at a university in the United States and could not divide his time between the two institutions.

"Sometimes you have to make decisions," Alexander told CNN in reference to the decision.

"If you let it happen, you never know if you will have that opportunity again."

Alexander suggested that TUE's decision to delay Laurent's studies is related to the family's decision to move to a different university to study his doctorate.

"The way they treat things is not correct," he said. "Laurent doesn't belong to them."

In response, Ivo Jongsma, a spokesman for TUE, told CNN: “We never try to keep our students just for us. It would never be a motivation to frustrate someone. ” He said the Simons had been open about Laurent's plan to eventually study in the United States.

TUE said in his statement that it was "regrettable" that the Simons had rejected the new calendar.

"His supervisors enjoyed working with him, not only because of his enormous talent, but also because he is a very kind and inquisitive child," said the university.

"Therefore, the door is still open so you can resume the study as long as the conditions remain realistic."

The family has not yet set a start date at the US university. UU., Where Laurent will study to obtain a doctorate in electrical engineering.

Alexander declined to name the institution, citing a family decision to reveal Laurent's progress only at the end of any given course.

"We don't want to press it," he said.

Infant prodigy