Chinese education officials apologise over fake MIT whizz-kid story

Alice Shen:

Education officials in eastern China have apologised for posting a fake story on their website about a 14-year-old Chinese computer science prodigy being accepted by MIT, according to state media.

The officials in Laiyang, Shandong province admitted they had fabricated the story after they were questioned during an internal education department investigation on Monday, Legal Daily newspaper reported.

It was unclear how many officials were involved and whether they would be punished for their action.

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In the story posted on the department’s website on December 1, the teenage boy was hailed as the youngest ever student to be accepted by the prestigious US university, according to the report on Monday.