Jonathan Gullis MP: Teaching return call 'not difficult'

Jonathan Gullis said keeping schools open with face-to-face teaching was "critical"

An MP set to return to teaching amid staff absences due to the pandemic said it was not a difficult decision.

In December, the government asked former teachers, who had the necessary skills and time, to return to the classroom amid the shortfall.

Jonathan Gullis, Tory MP for Stoke-on-Trent North, said he had joined an agency to work as a supply teacher amid his parliamentary commitments.

He said keeping schools open with face-to-face teaching was "critical".

Mr Gullis, who was elected to his constituency in 2019, previously worked as a secondary school teacher in Birmingham.

"I have always said during a time of national crisis it is upon all of us to take up and do what we can do," he said, adding he was waiting for final paperwork to come through before he took up his first post.

Mr Gullis said he would be working on Fridays, which were constituency days, and Thursdays where possible.

The four main teaching unions ASCL, NAHT, NEU and NASUWT - plus the GMB and Unison - have issued a joint statement calling for urgent steps to help schools, saying they need to avoid a third year of exam disruption and remove uncertainty and additional workloads for students and teachers.

Mr Gullis said his partner, also a teacher, had missed the start of term after testing positive for Covid and absences were putting a strain on teachers and pupils alike.

"We have to have face-to-face teaching continuing, we have to keep schools open no matter what because if we don't, we're talking about generations not just suffering the long-term economic consequences that covid has brought with the cost of it, but actually the educational impact that will have," he said.