Did you hear about the 8 year old Brazilian boy who’d always dreamed of becoming a judge? He just passed a law school entrance exam!
The news shocked Brazil’s legal profession and has prompted a federal investigation!
The Universidade Paulista, a multi-campus private university, issued a statement acknowledging that Joao Victor Portellinha de Oliveira had passed the entrance exam and that it initially enrolled him. But he was turned away from classes when he showed up with his father.
The University now claims that the fifth grader must graduate from high school before they’ll accept him into the university program. A university employee erred when they accepted Oliveira’s enrollment and said that the University fees would be returned to the family.
“I think they should have been more considerate,” the boy’s mother, Maristela, told the UOL news website. “At least they could’ve allowed him to visit the college’s facilities.”
The Brazilian Bar Association said the boy’s achievement should be a warning about the low standards of some of the country’s law schools.
Oliveira is two grade levels ahead of normal for his age, but his mother says he’s not a cloistered genius.
“He is a regular boy,” she told the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper. “He is very dedicated, likes to read and study, but he has fun and makes friends.”
A very humble mother, and she take the opportunity to call on for improvements in schools.
I think the University should let him in, he’s earned it like any other student, and having him sit bored stiff in high school would only be a shame and a waste of time and detriment to his mind. 🙂
He should sue them.