Students of 'Paomum Tharkla', a school for Mro children set up in the remote hills of Ghazalia Union of Lama Upazila of Bandarban, are going to Dhaka for the first time. Everyone is very excited about the news of going to Dhaka.
Not only the students, but also the residents of the local Mro neighborhood will be migrating to Dhaka with them for the first time. 'Paomum Parvan 2025' will be held at the Alliance Française in the capital from December 17 to 23. They said that they are coming to Dhaka from the remote area of Lama Upazila in faraway Bandarban to participate in this week-long festival.
The theme of the festival has been decided as 'From Hills to Hope'. It will include Mro artwork, bamboo work, dance, song, Plunge tune (flute), theater and crafts made by children. There will be food, women's hand-woven crafts and stories of elders. The life of the students of Paomum Tharkla School, built for Lama children, is not like other schools there. They face various obstacles and limitations in their school education.
After researching, it was found that Ghazalia Union is located about 30 kilometers from Lama Upazila headquarters in Bandarban. This is where the remote village of Changkakpara is located. There is no easy way to reach it directly. From Lama, you first have to cross some distance by road. Then it takes about an hour and a half to reach the village by walking along the steep, winding, and flowing paths surrounded by forests.
There is no basic services like electricity, safe water, mobile network or hospital in that area. Not a single school is available within a few kilometers of the area. In such a situation, in 2016, freelancer Shahriar Parvez, along with local youth Uthoyai Marma and a few others, established the 'Paomum Tharkla' school in that neighborhood of the Mro community. Currently, about 68 Mro children from five surrounding neighborhoods are taking lessons here. Of these, 30 live in the hostel. The number of teachers is five. Classes are being held from nursery class to fifth class. Primary education is also being provided in the Mro language.
It is learned that 9,000 taka is taken from the students staying in the hostel annually. If no one can pay in cash, rice, pulses or vegetables are taken instead. Apart from this, well-wishers from different parts of the country also regularly send educational materials and financial assistance. For the past 10 years, the children here have been learning their own language, songs and stories along with textbooks.
When asked about coming to Dhaka for the first time after crossing the mountain pass, Uthoyai Marma, one of the entrepreneurs who established the school, said that the opportunities for children to learn in the mountains are very limited. The Mro language and culture are slowly disappearing. But Paomum Tharkla wants to preserve this culture. And that is why they all come to Dhaka to share their stories with the city people.
Another entrepreneur, Shahriar Parvez, expressed his hope of taking the Mro children forward and said that it is very difficult to run a school in the mountains. Therefore, at this moment, there is a great need to create a permanent fund to continue the education of these children. This freelancer said that if everyone joins hands, maybe that is also possible.
