A British woman who allowed two of her daughters to play truant has been sent to jail, court officials said.
Patricia Amos, 43, was given 60 days in prison by magistrates at Banbury in Oxfordshire for failing to ensure her children regularly went to school.
Her eldest daughter is now taking care of the two truants while their mother is behind bars.
Amos is thought to be the first parent to be jailed under tough powers introduced by then Home Secretary Jack Straw in 2000 in a bid to cut truancy.
Last month Prime Minister Tony Blair announced new proposals under which parents of youngsters who regularly missed school could have their child benefit payments withdrawn.
Science teacher hailed as "rock star"
A US earth-science teacher is to receive a national education award after being hailed as a "rock star" at his school for his ability to hold his students` interest.
When John McKinney talks, his 14-year-old students listen.
"I start by asking a question, and the kids take it from there," said McKinney, 46, who wrote his own textbook for the course.
"And I try to connect the science I`m teaching to what students already know. That makes it relevant to their own lives."
His hands-on approach, for example, had students drawing a dinosaur timeline in the school car park. Every species was drawn to scale in a progression that started 200 million and ended 60 million years ago, when the last dinosaurs died out.
"I always thought science was boring because all we did was memorise facts," said Hannah Clark, 14. "He makes the class fun and learning enjoyable. He`s definitely more fun than most teachers."
McKinney`s "passion for teaching and for the kids is always evident," said school Superintendent Rick O`Connell. "He motivates the kids and motivates himself."
Aquilina told to apologise to student
In Australia, Former New South Wales education minister John Aquilina has been called on to issue an "unqualified apology" to a Sydney student for spreading false claims about an alleged massacre plot.
After a year-long investigation into the incident, the NSW Privacy Commission concluded that Mr Aquilina, his former press secretary Patrick Low and Premier Bob Carr`s communication manager Walt Secord had violated the boy`s privacy.
The trio had also caused harm to the boy and his family by failing to verify a claim that the western Sydney student had access to a gun before disclosing it to a third party.
The commission`s report revealed two students had removed the boy`s diary containing details of the alleged plot from the student`s bag before it was obtained by teachers. On the same day, the school principal alerted police while the school`s district office informed Mr Aquilina`s office.
Four days later, Mr Aquilina told Parliament about the alleged plot while government staffers told journalists the boy had access to a gun.
Chinese schools to run eTextbook
Chinese schools have beaten their Western counterparts in the race to a technologically inclined, paperless classroom.
1000 students from 10 schools in nine provinces in China have gone through a trial programme to learn how to work an electronic textbook, which will be adoped in primary and secondary classes in certain phases and in time replace all paper textbooks in the classrooms.
The PEP eTextbook is an electronic text reader powered by a chip that supports a small memory e-card with a storage capacity of up to 15,000 pages in Chinese writing.
Weighing only 300 grammes and equipped with radiation-free SSCT LCD, the PEP eTextbook runs on two AA batteries that can last up to four months.
The pilot project is the result of a joint venture between the People`s Education Press (PEP) and Culturecome Holdings Limited, which aims to promote electronic education in China.