Environmental education in African secondary schooling: a PRISMA-based systematic review

Abstract

Environmental degradation, climate change, and biodiversity loss pose urgent challenges that demand transformative responses from education systems worldwide. Secondary schools represent a critical intervention point for cultivating environmental awareness and sustainable behaviors, as learners at this developmental stage are forming enduring values, attitudes, and civic identities. This review synthesizes evidence on environmental education in African secondary schooling, with emphasis on curriculum, pedagogy, learner outcomes, and implementation conditions. We examined how environmental education is integrated into secondary school curricula by conducting a systematic review of studies published between 2003 and 2025 and assessed its effectiveness in promoting conservation awareness and sustainable behavior among learners. A narrative synthesis of 22 peer-reviewed studies and policy documents was conducted using PRISMA methods, focusing on curriculum integration models, pedagogical strategies, learner outcomes, and institutional and policy contexts. The findings indicate that while environmental education is widely acknowledged within national curricula, its integration is often fragmented, inconsistently implemented, and weakly assessed, particularly with respect to behavioral outcomes. Experiential, place-based, and whole-school approaches demonstrate stronger impacts on learner engagement, environmental identity, and pro-environmental practices than content-heavy or examination-driven models. However, limited teacher preparedness, curriculum overload, resource constraints, and inadequate assessment frameworks continue to undermine effectiveness. The review concludes that environmental education holds substantial promise as a transformative force in secondary education, but its impact depends on coherent curriculum design, sustained teacher development, supportive institutional environments, and robust evaluation systems that move beyond knowledge acquisition toward lasting behavioral change.