New Highways Threaten Giant pandas

Unit 9 Animals

Parents Face Fines in New School Rules

Unit 8 Education

British parents could soon face a fine and prison if their children misbehave at school. Britain’s government wants to introduce tough new laws to improve discipline in schools. They want to make parents more responsible for their sons and daughters. Some of the new measures include making parents attend parenting courses, paying a $1,700 fine or going to prison. The Schools Secretary Ed Balls said current policies on unruly behaviour are not strict enough. Many British schools suffer from high levels of bullying, truancy and low academic achievement. He wants parents to play their part in making sure their children achieve. "Every parent has a responsibility to back our teachers and make sure the rules are [followed]," he said.

The measures are part of a new focus on the relationship between schools and parents. Mr. Balls also has plans to help parents and students. He proposes to give pupils private tutors if they are doing badly in reading and maths. He also wants doctors, health workers and social workers in schools to provide better community services. Under Mr. Balls’ plans, parents will have a bigger voice in how schools operate. They will complete satisfaction surveys on how their children’s school performs. Critics say the plans are unlikely to be popular with parents. There are also fears about poorer parents not having enough money to pay the fines and whether they should go to prison for their children’s actions

There is a new threat to the survival of the giant panda. The rapid construction of China’s national highway network is cutting the pandas’ natural habitat into many small pieces. This is destroying the bamboo forests that the loveable animals need to survive. It is also adding a new danger of being run over by cars and trucks. The China Daily newspaper reported the biggest threat to the animal is in the northwest province of Gansu. There are now fewer than fifty pandas there. Conservationists are battling to preserve them. They are building special panda crossings and tunnels to help them survive.

The biggest problem is the dividing of the pandas’ habitat into smaller areas. The growth of the highways now makes breeding even more difficult. The China Daily reports that: “According to basic principles of genetics and the pandas’ reproduction habits, a group of less than 50 giant pandas are predicted to become extinct at some point as a result of a weakening reproductive ability caused by inbreeding.” There are only two days of the year when the female panda is fertile. This problem is made worse because of the males’ lack of interest in sex and the females’

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