U.N. Secretary-General Echoes Trump on Reopening Schools, Says It 'Must Be a Top Priority'

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said Tuesday that reopening schools as safely as possible should be a "top priority" for leaders around the world.

Guterres delivered his remarks about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on educating children as federal and state education officials in the U.S. continue to struggle with decisions regarding when and how to reopen American schools.

"Once local transmission of COVID-19 is under control, getting students back into schools and learning institutions as safely as possible must be a top priority," Guterres said.

The secretary-general said the pandemic, which forced schools around the world to shut down in efforts to prevent further spread of the virus, introduced "the largest disruption of education ever." More than 1 billion students and at least 40 million preschool students were affected as schools in at least 160 countries closed this year, Guterres said.

Though many schools devised distance learning strategies during the spring to help students continue learning outside their classrooms, Guterres said those efforts left out many who do not have access to technology outside of school and those who face other social, economic or familial roadblocks in completing classwork at home.

"Now we face a generational catastrophe that could waste untold human potential, undermine decades of progress and exacerbate entrenched inequalities," Guterres said.

To address the problem, Guterres suggested areas that have the virus under control start by safely reopening schools as quickly as they are able to do so. He said communities should also boost funding for education in government budgets, identify and help the "hardest to reach" students—including students with disabilities, in underserved communities and in minority groups—and invest in new education formats or strategies. All of this, he said, would help students around the world regain ground.

While Guterres acknowledged that educational disparities existed long before COVID-19, he said the pandemic exacerbated the problem and made it especially important for global leaders to begin making changes.

Many students in the U.S. still don't know what shape their fall semesters will take as the outbreak situation continues to fluctuate across the country. By Tuesday, August 4, health officials reported a total of more than 4.7 million cases nationwide, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University.

While the federal government has encouraged all schools to reopen for in-person instruction, most school districts are making those decisions on a county-by-county basis. As debates over school reopenings escalated last month, President Donald Trump and Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos both said schools that did not reopen in time for the fall semester could risk losing funding.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield encouraged K-12 school administrators on Tuesday to follow the agency's guidelines for reopening classrooms. Redfield said during a July news conference that the CDC's recommendations are intended to assist schools with reopening safely and not to discourage them from starting the process.

In recent weeks, Redfield, Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials have reiterated the importance of resuming in-person schooling, which they said provides more for students' well-being than the educational benefits alone. In the remarks he delivered Tuesday, Guterres agreed with their perspective on the importance of returning students to as normal an educational experience as possible.

"Education is the key to personal development and the future of societies," he said. "It unlocks opportunities and narrows inequalities. It is the bedrock of informed, tolerant societies and a primary driver of sustainable development."

In a statement shared with Newsweek, a UNESCO spokesperson said steps to reopen classrooms should be taken in line with local health officials' advice.

"Our concern is that the longer schools are closed, the higher the risk of the most marginalized and disadvantaged children falling behind," the spokesperson said. "The top priority remains to stop transmission of the virus and to make the decision on reopening based on guidance from health authorities and ensuring that all measures are in place for a safe return to school, in consultation with teachers, parents and communities."

This article has been updated to include a response from UNESCO.