Former teachers stepping up in virus fight

Around 500 former teachers have signed up with supply agencies to tackle staff shortages in England's schools, data suggests.

It comes after Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi urged ex-teachers to temporarily return to the profession to help with Covid-19 absences.

Data published by the Department for Education (DfE) – from around 10% of supply agencies – suggests 485 former teachers have signed up.

But head teacher unions said the numbers are "a drop in the ocean" compared to the challenge caused by the Omicron variant.

The warning comes after the DfE estimated that one in 12 (8.6%) of teachers and school leaders in England – around 44,000 of staff – were absent at the start of term last week, up from 8.0% on December 16.

Bridget Phillipson MP,

Labour's shadow education secretary, said: "These figures show the Government's reliance on the good will of ex-teachers alone is an utterly inadequate answer to staffing shortages, equating to just one additional teacher for every 50 schools.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "We are delighted that these former teachers have come forward to help in what is clearly a time of great need, and thank them for their efforts.

"However, the numbers barely scratch the surface of the huge level of staff absence caused by Covid-19.”

The DfE has said the actual number of ex-teachers who have signed up is likely to be much larger given the size of the sample – and it has stressed that the call for exteachers to return is still ongoing.