Young maths genius studies in France

Maximilian Janisch is the highly gifted son of a retired mathematics professor in Meierskappel. Despite completing his standard school in record time, he has not been allowed to enroll at either the ETH or the University of Zurich, and is now studying in France, where he has attended one semester of algebra lectures at the University of Perpignan as a guest student.
 
The choice fell on Perpignan because the parents of the now 12-year-old Maximilian Janisch own a a holiday home nearby. The language - as expected –is no problem: Maximilian already speaks fluent French. The French newspaper "Charente Libre" became aware of the Swiss boy, and published a story about him, as «20minutes» reported on Wednesday. "He really is a special boy,"said university president Fabrice Lorente. The university needs to be reinvented to cater for such gifted students.
 
The little math genius from Meierskappel skipped a class in primary school three times, and entered the first year of high school in the summer of 2012. He took the Matura (school leaving) examination in mathematics in the spring of 2013, and passed with flying colours.
 
His parents then wanted their son to attend individual ETH lectures as a regularly registered student, and to take exams. He was, however, turned down by the ETH, and the parents then tried at the University of Zurich, but were also disappointed. Both universities stated that the reason was that the boy does not hold a federally recognized Matura.