The University of Hong Kong will offer a nine-year-old maths prodigy a 'visiting studentship', according to a university source.
March Boedihardjo would not take part in a full degree course from the outset of the new term next month but would be invited to take part in classes on his strongest subject of maths, while allowing other potential talents and interests to develop, the source said.
The university has not made a formal offer to the family yet as it has been unable to get in touch with the boy's father. 'It would be great if we could speak to the family and work out arrangements with them,' the source said.
Other universities are also poised to offer March a place and are awaiting a chance to speak to the family.
However, the president of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Paul Chu Ching-wu, suggested yesterday the boy was not ready for campus life and would need special teaching.
He said the university would offer a special programme, possibly including individual teaching, for March, of Wan Chai, who scored two A grades and a B in his British A-level exams this year.
A source involved in the Indonesian-Chinese boy's application said the university had indicated its willingness to accept him. The boy, who has been studying in Oxford, England, for two years, has applied to study maths.
