Axis A1 · scored on 119 books
Religious saturation
How much religion does a pupil meet in subjects that are not religious education?
Islamiyat is religious by definition, so it says nothing about a curriculum's character. What a science, geography or language book does with religion is the measurable choice. This axis counts that and nothing else; Islamiyat is scored separately on A1b for register.
How the five bands are defined
Fixed before any book was read. A score without cited evidence is not a score.
| Score | Operational test |
|---|---|
| 1 | Nothing beyond a conventional bismillah or imprint-page formula. |
| 2 | Isolated or incidental religious reference; no dedicated religious lesson, chapter or section. |
| 3 | At least one dedicated religious lesson, chapter or section, plus recurrent reference elsewhere. |
| 4 | Religion occupies the book's opening slot, or roughly a fifth of its units, or providential causation is asserted in the book's own voice. |
| 5 | Subject matter is subordinated to religious instruction. |
Board means English-medium only
Urdu and Sindhi material is theme-grade under this project's evidence rules and is excluded from every mean. Means over small n are shown with their n and should not be quoted without it.
| Board | Mean | n | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal | 1.70 | 10 | |
| Sindh | 1.82 | 17 | |
| Balochistan | 2.10 | 20 | |
| Punjab | 2.36 | 22 | |
| Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | 2.50 | 16 |
Lowest is Federal (1.70), highest is Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (2.50). A gap this size may be an artefact of curriculum vintage rather than province — the synthesis separates the two.
Distribution across the corpus
| Score | Books | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | |
| 2 | 16 | |
| 3 | 29 | |
| 4 | 29 | |
| 5 | 1 |
Poles are descriptive, not evaluative. A high score is a measured property of a text, not a verdict on a board, an author or a teacher.
Books at the top of this axis
| Score | Book | Board | Class | Vintage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | History SNC 2023-24 Class 6 | Punjab | 6 | SNC 2022 |
| 4 | 6th Class History English Medium Text Book by BTBB | Balochistan | 6 | National Curriculum 2022-23 |
| 4 | History - Grade 8 | Balochistan | 8 | National Curriculum 2022-23 |
| 4 | History - Grade 8 | Balochistan | 8 | National Curriculum 2022-23 |
| 4 | Pakistan Studies - Grade 9 | Balochistan | 9 | National Curriculum 2022-23 |
| 4 | English - Grade 10 | Balochistan | 10 | National Curriculum 2006 |
Books at the bottom
| Score | Book | Board | Class | Vintage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Textbook of Physics For Class 10 (Test Edition, 2025) | Sindh | 10 | National Curriculum 2006 |
| 1 | Secondary Stage English Book Two For Class X (2022-23) | Sindh | 10 | National Curriculum 2006 |
| 1 | The Textbook of Chemistry For Class X (Test Edition, 2022-23) | Sindh | 10 | National Curriculum 2006 |
| 1 | The Textbook of Biology For Grade 10 (2021-22) | Sindh | 10 | National Curriculum 2006 |
| 1 | Physics IX (2026) | Sindh | 9 | National Curriculum 2006 |
| 1 | Biology IX (2020-21) | Sindh | 9 | National Curriculum 2006 |
Findings that turn on this axis
- Religiosity and conservatism rank the boards differently
- Pakistani religious minorities are the one out-group every board treats in the pluralist half
- One board is simultaneously the most hostile and among the most inclusive
- One board requires a second compulsory religious subject
- The most secular books and the steepest climb belong to the same board
- Matriculation science is secular in every province
Where this axis is weakest
It is scored on 119 of 167 current books. Coverage is uneven by design: a lens reads the books where its question is live, so a science volume may carry three axis scores and a Pakistan Studies volume seven. That means board means on this axis rest on different books from board means on another, and the two are not interchangeable. The full per-book tables, with page-cited evidence for every score, are in the religion lens report.