An English-medium school in Wari where children learn mathematics and the Quran in the morning, and wood, cloth and electronics in the afternoon — and where what they make earns them a share of their own fees.
Discovery School of Advanced Studies is a new school for the children of Wari and the surrounding villages, founded by two partners from this district. It teaches the full Khyber Pakhtunkhwa curriculum to a high standard — and then adds two things no other school here offers.
The complete KP scheme of studies: English, Urdu, Mathematics, Science, Islamiyat, Nazra Quran with tajweed and Social Studies. English medium from Nursery. Small classes and teachers who are trained before they ever take a register.
Taraash Kada, the robotics bench: every child from KG builds, codes and fixes real robots, girls and boys alike. Older students earn a national trade certificate alongside their matric.
Arabic, computing, artificial intelligence and robotics for every child, free — and an hour of real thinking every single day. Taught alongside akhlaq and adab, because a skilled person without character helps nobody.
| Stage | Subjects | School closes |
|---|---|---|
| Nursery & Prep | Play-based learning in seven areas — language, early mathematics, the world around us, health, art, movement and getting along with others. No tests, no homework. | 13:35 |
| Classes 1–3 | Urdu · English · Mathematics · Islamiyat · Nazra Quran · General Knowledge · Hunar Foundation · Digital | 13:35 |
| Classes 4–5 | Urdu · English · Mathematics · Islamiyat · Nazra Quran · General Science · Social Studies · Hunar Studio · Digital | 13:35 |
| Classes 6–8 | All of the above at middle level, plus Computer Science, History, Geography, Mutala-e-Quran, and the Hunar Studio as a marked subject | 14:35 |
| Classes 9–10 | Full SSC preparation for the Malakand Board — Science group or Humanities group, with practical subjects available in Humanities | 15:00 |
1 March to 30 June, then 1 August to 21 December. Summer break in July, winter break from 22 December to 28 February — the same calendar as government schools, as the law requires.
Shortened hours by government notification: primary closes at 11:15, Classes 6 and above at 12:10.
We open with Nursery to Class 3 and add one class every year, so the first children to join us can stay right through to matriculation without ever changing school.
Nazra with tajweed in small groups, taught by a qari or qaria — and Arabic every year from Nursery to Class 10, so a child who recites for eleven years also understands what they are reading.
Robotics is compulsory for every class, Nursery to Class 10 — no child opts out and no child pays extra. Arrow cards at four, a floor robot at six, a motor and a battery at nine, a real microcontroller at twelve. Computing from Prep and artificial intelligence taught properly. It all runs without electricity or internet when it has to.
One bench, Rabot: robotics for every child, girls and boys, every week, with a film for every step so a child can watch it again at home.
One hour of real thinking, every day, for every class. Questions with no answer at the back of the book. No marks, no textbook, and it is never cancelled.
Monday a question. Tuesday a problem to build. Wednesday an argument. Thursday take something apart. Friday a decision with no easy answer. Our children will meet a world of machines that can answer anything — so the thing worth teaching them is which questions to ask, and how to tell truth from noise.
Children learn with their hands from the first year. From Class 3 every child rotates through all three workshops; from Class 8 they choose one and go deep. Everything is taught by a master craftsman working alongside a teacher, with safety training before any tool is issued.
Measuring, marking, sawing and joining — by hand, with hand tools. Older students make beehive boxes, school desks and household items to order.
Hand stitching, embroidery in the Dir style, and machine tailoring on manual machines that need no electricity. Older students stitch suits and school uniforms to order.
Circuits, soldering, fault-finding and simple robotics — and a repair bench where older students service solar equipment, fans and inverters under a qualified technician.
One tenth of everything the workshops sell goes into the Hunar Fund, held in a separate trust account. Each term it is awarded to students as a credit against their own school fees, plus a personal tool kit and a savings certificate that matures when they leave school.
Awards are decided by attendance, assessed skill and safety record — never by how much a child produced. Only students aged 14 and above make items for sale; younger children keep everything they make and take it home.
Not an extra subject with an extra fee — part of the timetable for every child from Prep to Class 10, at no additional charge. And built so that it works when the electricity and the internet do not, because in Wari they often will not.
Computing without computers — giving precise instructions, sorting, patterns, and what a rule is. No screens at all at this age.
Using a computer, then programming one with Scratch. Teaching a machine to sort using paper cards. Staying safe online, explained in the language the child understands.
The full national Computer Science curriculum, plus machine learning, why AI makes mistakes, how to check whether something online is true, and a project that connects the computer lab to the workshops.
Our digital library runs on the school's own network with no internet connection, so a child can read, watch and practise even during load-shedding.
Every band is under PKR 2,000 a month — about forty per cent of what a well-known chain charges elsewhere in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. There is nothing else to pay.
| Class | Monthly fee (PKR) |
|---|---|
| Nursery, Prep | 1,600 |
| Classes 1 and 2 | 1,750 |
| Class 3 and above | 1,900 |
A discount of at least 20% for every additional child from the same family, as required by law.
Admission and capitation fees are banned in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and we do not charge them. You pay for uniform, books and stationery, and nothing else at the gate.
By law, no more than 10% once a year, announced a month in advance. We will never surprise you.
From Class 8, a student's workshop award is credited straight against their own fees. Some of our older students will pay a meaningful part of their schooling themselves.
Come to the school in Main Bazar any morning between 09:00 and 12:00, or fill in the form below and we will call you.
The child's B-Form, the father's or guardian's CNIC, two passport photographs, and the last school report if the child has attended school before.
For Nursery and Prep there is no test — we simply meet your child. From Class 1 upward there is a short assessment in Urdu, English and Mathematics so we can place your child in the right class.
Pay the first month's fee, collect the uniform list and book list, and your child starts on the agreed date.
We will be honest with you: a government post pays more than we can, and it carries a pension. What we offer instead is a career you climb on merit in four years, a certification worth something at any school in the division, and a fund that vests like a pension. Nobody here is promoted for waiting.
Where everyone starts. Four weeks of paid induction before you take a class, then a class of your own with a mentor beside you. From PKR 18,000.
You teach independently. From PKR 23,000 — and the Sabat Fund begins, crediting 5% of your salary into a trust every year you stay.
You mentor two Muallims and may train others in the Discovery Hour. From PKR 29,000.
You certify teachers, and you may be sent to open a new Discovery campus — with a secondment payment on top of your salary. From PKR 37,000.
From Grade 2, the school credits 5–6% of your annual salary into a trust in your name. One third becomes yours after three years of service, two thirds after four, and all of it after five. It is written down, it is reported to you every year, and no one has to approve it twice.
Promotion is decided by eight assessed competencies — subject command, classroom management, running the Discovery Hour without giving answers, Quran and Arabic delivery, workshop safety, assessment, parents, and safeguarding. Every competency at 3 out of 5, a mean of 3.5, and one year in grade. That is the whole rule, and it is the same for everyone.
Every family gets a login. See attendance, marks, the report card, the fee ledger and what your child made in Hunar Studio this week — without coming to the office and without asking anyone's permission. It works on any phone, and it works when the internet does not.
Attendance and marks for every one of your children on one screen. The fee ledger, with every receipt. Notices from the Head Teacher. And every film the child is working through at the Hunar bench.
Your own report card, your Discovery Hour thinking portfolio, your Hunar Studio work and what it earned into your Hunar Fund.
Your login is created on the day your child is admitted and handed to you on a printed slip. If you lose it, ask the clerk — nobody will ask you why.