The former education minister Sarah Teather MP is to join the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), it has been announced. Ms Teather will work with the JRS's International Advocacy team from June 1. As an advocacy adviser, her job will focus on the provision of education for refugee children the Middle East and South Sudan. "I'm delighted to have an opportunity to be able to use the skills and experience I have gained in Parliament to work directly with refugees," she said. "I have long admired JRS as a charity. In my work, both in the UK and visiting refugee projects internationally, I have been hugely impressed by the ethos of JRS and the way in which they serve people in some of the most troubled places in the world. I have seen for myself how their focus on accompanying refugees is a hugely important witness to human dignity." JRS International director Peter Balleis SJ added: "One of our main priorities is the delivery of education services to forcibly displaced persons in some of the most difficult circumstances imaginable: Central African Republic, South Sudan, Syria. Offering education to young refugees is our distinct contribution to a more peaceful future. But the needs are so great. "We believe Sarah's knowledge and experience in the fields of education, human rights and policymaking offers us an opportunity to make a real difference in people's lives." Ms Teather will stand down from the House of Commons in May 2015 after working for 12 years as MP for Brent Central.