Mapping Human Health Care Content in Pakistan's Single National Curriculum (2022): A Content Analysis of General Science Textbooks for Grades 6-8

Abstract

The present study aims to investigate the content coverage of human health care in the General Science textbooks of the 6th, 7th and 8th Grades of the Single National Curriculum (SNC, 2022) of Pakistan. While health literacy has come to be seen as a competency that should be developed in schools, especially at the science educational level, the extent to which this dimension is covered in the elementary science curriculum in Pakistan remains under researched. The study is conducted with qualitative content analysis design and a structured checklist is used to analyse content of textbooks in the following five categories: Personal Hygiene, Food and Healthy Diet, Human Body Systems, Disease Prevention and Health and Lifestyle Practices. Purposeful selection is done for the three officially approved textbooks of General Science (Science Textbook Board Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and examined for the coverage, depth and grade wise progression of content related to health. The findings show that overall coverage is moderate at 64 percent (across the three grades) and varies in coverage, with a low coverage in grade 7 because there is no Food and Healthy Diet content. The category with the most consistent and comprehensive coverage is Human Body Systems, and the weakest is Personal Hygiene and Health, which often is covered only as a side issue and not in a dedicated topic. The study indicates that the curriculum has an acceptable scientific basis for the study of health, but it does not offer a sequential, developmentally appropriate program that emphasizes the behavioral/lifestyle aspects of health. The study suggests that curriculum developers re-think the sequence, enrichment and level of health care content included in the curriculum so that students in elementary schools will have access to real life health-related information and healthy lifestyles.