On a pleasant morning, a group of children surrounds a gardener as he demonstrates the painstaking process of growing plants — preparing manure, watering saplings, and explaining not just how things are done, but why. The unusual lesson, delivered in Urdu, is part of the classwork at VM Public School.

“My children need to learn that teaching doesn’t happen only through the teacher, doesn’t happen only in the classroom, and doesn’t happen only in English. It happens everywhere,” says principal Marium Mukhi, who holds a Master’s in Education degree from the University of Sussex in the UK.

Tucked away in the Dhoraji area of Karachi, the VM Public School is a 63-year-old school that was recently recognised among the world’s top 50 schools for teacher development by the Varkey Foundation in the UK. It is an extraordinary feat for a trust-backed, homegrown matriculation teaching system educational institute.

Recognised among the world’s top 50 schools for teacher development, Karachi’s VM Public School is challenging assumptions about affordability, language and what quality education should look like

Recognised among the world’s top 50 schools for teacher development, Karachi’s VM Public School is challenging assumptions about affordability, language and what quality education should look like

Charging an all-inclusive monthly fee of Rs5,800, the school embraces socio-economic diversity, with the child of a street vendor sitting next to a banker’s child. With roughly 400 students, the VM Public School aims to keep affordability central to its model, while also aiming to provide education that meets the global standard.

Run under a trust, the school is heavily subsidised, with most operational costs absorbed to keep fees affordable. “We are operating in a deficit,” says Ms Mukhi, “but we are backed by a strong trust, so we can still do a lot.”

Annual admission fees are........

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