A DORSET MP said “we must throw the kitchen sink” at testing in schools, in order to keep education settings open.

Members of the armed forces will be drafted in to support coronavirus testing operations for thousands of school and college students in England, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced.

And North Dorset MP Simon Hoare said it would be a “complete failure of public policy” if schools weren’t kept open.

Mr Hoare told the Daily Echo: “We have got to make sure we are not going to deprive this cohort of young people of the tools to open the doors of life’s opportunities.

“It would be a massive failure of social policy to deprive our youngsters of an engaging education and part of the problem is kids who can least afford to slip back usually slip back most.

“In terms of delivering testing, let us throw the kitchen sink at it. Staff have been bending over backwards to get these schools open.

“The military are experienced, trusted and have the dignity to do the testing. It would make absolute common sense if we have people who are trained to deliver the tests rather than training a cohort of teachers.

“I would view it as a complete failure of public policy and public services if we couldn’t find a way to keep our schools open.

“Let’s not add to the difficulties of our young people by sending them forth into the world with a sub-standard educational experience.”

Meanwhile, Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwood said testing “gives us greater confidence at maintaining the situation locally”.

Mr Ellwood said: “If there’s an outbreak in schools, it can be quickly identified. This means swifter decision making.

“The impact on schools has been phenomenal. This will be a generation that will live with the consequences, anything we can do to reduce the impact should be done.

“The armed forces are on our side, they are there to work with us in times of emergency and we are far from out the woods yet.”

The MoD said 1,500 military personnel would be deployed to ensure that testing systems were up and running by the time pupils returned for the new term in January.

The majority of the personnel will form local response teams, providing support and phone advice to institutions needing guidance on the testing process and set-up of the testing facilities.

According to the department, support will be done “predominantly through webinars and individual meetings”, but teams would also be on standby to provide in-person support at short notice.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: “The UK armed forces are stepping up once again this holiday.

“They’ll share considerable experience of testing across the country and the successful school pilots conducted this autumn.

“We are grateful for the professionalism and commitment they and our colleagues in teaching are showing to get students back into the classroom and on with their education.”