Student Assessment of Sustainability Education by Country

Student assessment of sustainability education measures whether countries test what students learn about environmental issues, social justice, and global challenges. This indicator reflects whether assessment systems include climate change, human rights, cultural diversity, sustainable development, and global citizenship, creating accountability for teaching and learning these critical topics.

Understanding Assessment Integration

This indicator measures the extent to which global citizenship education (GCED) and education for sustainable development (ESD) are mainstreamed in student assessment. Assessment drives instruction—what gets tested gets taught. The score ranges from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating stronger integration of these topics in student evaluation systems, including exams, projects, and other assessment methods.

Assessment integration creates accountability for teaching and learning. Countries with strong assessment integration ensure that global citizenship and sustainability education are not just mentioned in policies and curricula but actually taught and learned. When these topics appear in assessments, teachers prioritize them, students take them seriously, and education systems can monitor whether learning objectives are being achieved.

The global landscape shows 63 countries with measurable assessment integration. Twenty-three countries achieve perfect scores (100%), including Belgium, Bahrain, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Spain, France, Georgia, India, Jordan, Cambodia, Lithuania, Latvia, Mexico, Malawi, Nicaragua, Peru, Poland, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Turkey, and Ukraine. At the lower end, Slovakia (25.0%), Bosnia and Herzegovina (50.0%), and Burundi (62.5%) show weak assessment integration.

Student Assessment of Sustainability Education by Country

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#	Country	2020 Score
1	Bahrain BH	100
2	Belgium BE	100
3	Cambodia KH	100
4	Colombia CO	100
5	Cuba CU	100
6	Dominican Republic DO	100
7	France FR	100
8	Georgia GE	100
9	India IN	100
10	Jordan JO	100
11	Lithuania LT	100
12	Latvia LV	100
13	Mexico MX	100
14	Malawi MW	100
15	Nicaragua NI	100
16	Peru PE	100
17	Poland PL	100
18	Romania RO	100
19	San Marino SM	100
20	Saudi Arabia SA	100
21	Slovenia SI	100
22	Syria SY	100
23	Thailand TH	100
24	Turkmenistan TM	100
25	Türkiye TR	100
26	Ukraine UA	100
27	Andorra AD	91.7
28	Brazil BR	91.7
29	Germany DE	91.7
30	Malta MT	91.7
31	Albania AL	83.3
32	Armenia AM	83.3
33	Bangladesh BD	83.3
34	Burkina Faso BF	83.3
35	Canada CA	83.3
36	Denmark DK	83.3
37	DR Congo CD	83.3
38	Estonia EE	83.3
39	Ireland IE	83.3
40	Italy IT	83.3
41	Kuwait KW	83.3
42	Kyrgyzstan KG	83.3
43	Malaysia MY	83.3
44	Moldova MD	83.3
45	Mongolia MN	83.3
46	Myanmar MM	83.3
47	Mauritius MU	83.3
48	New Zealand NZ	83.3
49	Oman OM	83.3
50	Palestine PS	83.3
51	Saint Kitts and Nevis KN	83.3
52	South Korea KR	83.3
53	Sweden SE	83.3
54	Hungary HU	79.2
55	Bolivia BO	75
56	Algeria DZ	75
57	Bulgaria BG	70.8
58	Cyprus CY	66.7
59	Monaco MC	66.7
60	Qatar QA	66.7
61	Burundi BI	62.5
62	Bosnia and Herzegovina BA	50
63	Slovakia SK	25

Regional Patterns

European countries show strong but varied assessment integration. Belgium, France, Spain, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Romania, and Ukraine all achieve 100%. Germany (91.7%), Andorra (91.7%), and Malta (91.7%) show strong integration. However, significant variation exists: Slovakia (25.0%), Cyprus (66.7%), Bulgaria (70.8%), and Monaco (66.7%) show weaker assessment coverage. This suggests that even within Europe, assessment prioritization of these topics varies substantially.

Latin American countries demonstrate exceptional assessment integration. Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Peru all achieve 100%, while Brazil (91.7%) and Bolivia (75.0%) show strong integration. This regional strength reflects commitment to assessing student learning in global citizenship and sustainability, creating accountability for implementation.

Asian countries display strong assessment integration. India, Jordan, Cambodia, Thailand, and South Korea all achieve or approach 100%. Myanmar (83.3%), Bangladesh (83.3%), and Malaysia (83.3%) show solid integration. This regional strength suggests that assessment systems are being used to drive implementation of global citizenship and sustainability education.

Middle Eastern countries show strong integration. Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Syria achieve 100%, while Oman (83.3%), Kuwait (83.3%), and Palestine (83.3%) demonstrate solid assessment coverage. Qatar (66.7%) lags somewhat behind. These scores suggest regional commitment to assessing student learning in these areas.

Implications and Challenges

Strong assessment integration drives implementation. Countries scoring 100% have embedded global citizenship and sustainability topics in their assessment systems, creating powerful incentives for teachers to teach and students to learn these topics. Assessment accountability ensures that policy commitments and curriculum intentions translate into actual classroom practice and student learning.

However, assessment integration faces quality challenges. Including topics in assessments does not automatically ensure quality assessment. Assessing complex competencies like global citizenship, critical thinking about sustainability, and intercultural understanding requires sophisticated assessment approaches beyond simple knowledge tests. Many countries struggle to develop assessments that capture the depth and complexity of these learning objectives.

The Slovakia anomaly highlights implementation gaps. Slovakia scores 51.2% on policies, 64.3% on curricula, but only 25.0% on student assessment. This pattern suggests that while some policy and curriculum development has occurred, the country has not prioritized assessing student learning in these areas. Without assessment accountability, implementation remains weak even when policies and curricula exist.