Global Education MCP

🇨🇭 Part of the [Swiss Public Data MCP Portfolio](https://github.com/malkreide)

🎓 global-education-mcp

MCP server for international education data – UNESCO UIS (4,000+ indicators across all member countries) and OECD Education at a Glance via SDMX. No API keys required.

🇩🇪 Deutsche Version

---

Overview

global-education-mcp gives AI assistants like Claude a complete international education intelligence system – literacy rates, enrolment ratios, education expenditure, teacher salaries, gender parity and SDG-4 monitoring, all accessible through a single standardised MCP interface.

The server bridges two of the most authoritative sources for internationally comparable education statistics: UNESCO UIS (global coverage, 4,000+ indicators) and the OECD's annual *Education at a Glance* (38 OECD countries, SDMX REST API). Both are open and require no API key.

Anchor demo query: *"Compare Switzerland's education expenditure as a percentage of GDP with Finland, Singapore and South Korea over the last 10 years – and flag any SDG-4 gaps."*

---

Features

• 🌍 UNESCO UIS – 4,000+ indicators, all UNESCO member countries, no API key
• 📊 OECD Education at a Glance – 38 OECD countries + partners via SDMX REST
• 🔍 Indicator search – browse and filter the full UNESCO indicator catalogue
• 🗺️ Multi-country comparison – benchmark any indicator across multiple countries
• 🏫 Country education profiles – 10 core indicators in one call
• 🎯 SDG-4 monitoring – structured reporting on Education for All targets
• 📈 OECD dataset search – discover and retrieve Education at a Glance dataflows
• 🔑 No API keys required – fully open data, zero setup friction
• ☁️ Dual transport – stdio for Claude Desktop, Streamable HTTP (/mcp, spec 2026-07-28) for cloud deployment
• 🛡️ Graceful degradation – API failures return helpful messages with local reference fallback

---

Prerequisites

• Python 3.11+
• uv (recommended) or pip
• No API keys needed

---

Installation

# Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/malkreide/global-education-mcp.git cd global-education-mcp

Install

pip install -e ".[dev]"

Or with uvx (no permanent installation):

uvx global-education-mcp

---

Quickstart

# Start the server (stdio mode for Claude Desktop)

global-education-mcp

Try it immediately in Claude Desktop:

*"What is Switzerland's literacy rate compared to Finland and Singapore?"*

*"Show me education expenditure as % of GDP for CHE, DEU and AUT over the last 10 years."*

---

Configuration

Claude Desktop Configuration

Windows (%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json):

{

"mcpServers": { "global-education": { "command": "uvx", "args": ["global-education-mcp"] } } }

macOS (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{

"mcpServers": { "global-education": { "command": "uvx", "args": ["global-education-mcp"] } } }

A ready-to-use claude_desktop_config.json is included in the repository root.

Cloud Deployment (Streamable HTTP for browser access)

For use via claude.ai in the browser (e.g. on managed workstations without local software).

⚠️ Security note: Since v0.3, MCP_HOST defaults to 127.0.0.1. The

HTTP transport must always run behind a reverse proxy that adds TLS,

authentication, and rate-limiting. Never expose the raw port to the

internet — MCP_HOST=0.0.0.0 is only safe inside an isolated

container network.

Docker (recommended):

The repository ships a hardened multi-stage Dockerfile and a docker-compose.yml that applies read_only: true, cap_drop: [ALL], security_opt: [no-new-privileges:true], and runs as non-root user uid 10001. The compose file binds the port to 127.0.0.1 so a host-level reverse proxy is required for any external access.

docker compose up --build

then point nginx/caddy at 127.0.0.1:8000/mcp with TLS + auth

Plain docker run (without compose):

docker build -t global-education-mcp .

docker run --rm \ --read-only --cap-drop ALL --security-opt no-new-privileges \ --tmpfs /tmp:size=16M,mode=1777 \ -p 127.0.0.1:8000:8000 \ global-education-mcp

Render.com:

1. Push/fork the repository to GitHub
2. On render.com: New Web Service → connect GitHub repo
3. Set environment variables in the Render dashboard:

   MCP_TRANSPORT=streamable-http

MCP_HOST=0.0.0.0 # Render needs 0.0.0.0; their edge layer provides TLS + auth. PORT=8000

4. In claude.ai under Settings → MCP Servers, add: `https://your-app.onrender.com/mcp`

Migrating from SSE. Up to v0.3.5 the container defaulted to MCP_TRANSPORT=sse with the endpoint /sse. The default is now streamable-http at /mcp — the transport through which 2026-07-28 clients send their single-POST requests; SSE has been superseded since spec 2025-03-26 and never offered that path. Existing deployments either switch the client URL to /mcp or set MCP_TRANSPORT=sse explicitly; the server then logs a legacy_transport_warning on start. An unknown MCP_TRANSPORT value now aborts the start instead of silently falling back to stdio.

💡 *"stdio for the developer laptop, sandboxed Streamable HTTP container for the browser."*

---

Available Tools

UNESCO UIS Tools

OECD Tools

Cross-Source Tools

Resources & Prompts

Resources:

• education://indicators/unesco – Quick reference for core UNESCO indicators
• education://datasets/oecd – Quick reference for OECD Education at a Glance dataflows

Prompts:

• bildungsvergleich_schweiz – Switzerland vs. Finland, Singapore, Japan
• sdg4_monitoring – SDG-4 report for CH/DE/AT

Country Codes

ISO 3166-1 Alpha-3 standard:

Example Use Cases

→ More use cases by audience →

---

Architecture

┌─────────────────┐     ┌──────────────────────────────┐     ┌────────────────────┐

│ Claude / AI │────▶│ Global Education MCP │────▶│ UNESCO UIS API │ │ (MCP Host) │◀────│ (MCP Server) │◀────│ uis.unesco.org │ └─────────────────┘ │ │ └────────────────────┘ │ 10 Tools · 2 Resources │ │ · 2 Prompts │ ┌────────────────────┐ │ stdio | Streamable HTTP │────▶│ OECD SDMX API │ │ │◀────│ sdmx.oecd.org │ │ server.py │ └────────────────────┘ │ + api_client.py │ └──────────────────────────────┘

Infrastructure Components

Caching Strategy

---

Project Structure

global-education-mcp/

├── src/global_education_mcp/ # Main package │ ├── init.py # Package metadata, version │ ├── server.py # FastMCP server, 10 tools, 2 resources, 2 prompts │ └── api_client.py # HTTP client, UNESCO UIS + OECD wrappers, formatters ├── scripts/ │ └── record_fixtures.py # Records the fixtures from the live UIS API ├── tests/ │ ├── fixtures/ # Recorded responses + PROVENANCE.md (source, date, SHA-256) │ ├── fixture_data.py # Fixture loader – raises on a missing name │ ├── test_source_contract.py # Contract vs. the recording + live tests │ ├── test_server.py # 42 tests (basic / intermediate / advanced) │ └── test_extended_scenarios.py # 74 tests across 8 categories ├── claude_desktop_config.json # Ready-to-use Claude Desktop config ├── pyproject.toml # Build configuration (hatchling) ├── CHANGELOG.md ├── CONTRIBUTING.md # Contribution guide (English) ├── CONTRIBUTING.de.md # Contribution guide (German) ├── SECURITY.md # Security policy (English) ├── SECURITY.de.md # Security policy (German) ├── LICENSE ├── README.md # This file (English) └── README.de.md # German version

---

Known Limitations

• UNESCO UIS: Some indicators have sparse coverage for low-income countries or recent years
• OECD SDMX: Occasional API timeouts on large multi-country, multi-year requests; reduce the year range if needed
• **OEC