Holistic Development of a Child’s Personality in Pakistan’s Single National Curriculum at Primary Level: An Islamic Appraisal

Abstract

This article appraises Pakistan’s primary-level Single National Curriculum (SNC) through an Islamic framework of holistic personality development. Using a pragmatic qualitative documentary design, it analyses selected Qur’anic and Prophetic sources, classical Muslim educational thought, the National Curriculum Framework, SNC standards, benchmarks, Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) for Grades I–V, selected textbooks, activities, teacher guidance, and assessment provisions. Evidence is classified as explicit, implicit, or aspirational and interpreted through alignment, coverage gap, productive overlap, and structural tension. The SNC shows strong alignment in spiritual and moral formation, accountable reasoning, social responsibility, citizenship, health, and selected environmental concerns, especially where values are translated into observable performance. Its main weaknesses are limited progression in emotional and aesthetic development, weak integration of economic competence with ethical dealing, inadequate multilingual assessment pathways, curriculum overload, and assessment that may privilege recall over understanding. Comparison with the 2006 Islamiyat curriculum shows reorganisation, relocation, and selective addition rather than wholesale removal of moral or Sufi content. The study concludes that the SNC provides a credible but incomplete foundation for Islamic holistic development and requires tighter sequencing, cross-curricular value integration, multilingual assessment support, targeted teacher development, and evidence-based assessment.

Keywords: holistic personality development; Single National Curriculum; Islamic education; primary education; qualitative content analysis; Pakistan