Islamic Beliefs in Compulsory Islamic Studies (Islamiyat) and Cognitive Development: An investigation

Islamic Studies or Islamiyat is offered as compulsory subject following the recommendation of Objective Resolution 1949, and Constitution of 1973 of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Therefore, all successive governments of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan took measures to introduce Islamic learning programs and courses in academics. Apart from other measures of introducing Islam both as a religion and as a way of life in academia, the teaching of Islamiyat was made compulsory at all three tiers of education aligned with the Educational Policies 1959, 1972, 1978, 1992, 1998, and 2009. The current study is focused on analyzing the topics of Islamic beliefs introduced at all the three tiers of education under the compulsory core course of Islamiyat or Islamic Studies. The underlying objective is to analyze the applicability of Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory in the topics selection of compulsory Islamic studies at all three tiers of education since the continuity of contents at successive levels is a principle of curriculum construction and organization. The paper explores whether the topics are helical in application and cater to the cognitive developmental needs of learners as per the aspects of age and stage. The results of the study reveal that the repetition of the contents at different cognitive stages does not match the cognitive level of the learners at relevant stages.