Luo Nyanza was until some years back famed for her heavy supply of the nation with academic giants, a fame that seems to be fading off with time.
Their love for education can be traced back to historical times when Supreme Chief Odera Akang'o literally forced people to study and whipped those who refused.
Unlike before when most people from the area were learned fellows, we are now seeing other regions catching up as is evident during exams and general observation.
Here are three things that are making the region lose its initial love for academics and slide back to illiteracy.
1. The coming of motorbikes
With the introduction of the lucrative bodaboda business, most young people, especially the male, find it useless going to school to further their education yet they can readily earn.
This has reduced the number of young people pursuing their childhood dreams, most finding a shortcut in bodaboda.
This comes under the notion that even the education's main motive is money and since they can earn it as early as now, there is no need for more struggle.
2. Changing times
Initially, it was easy for parents to pay for their children's education with farm products. Parents at times offered services like tilling the school farm in exchange for education.
But with the changing times, money being the only mode of payment in most areas of Nyanza now, poor families have found themselves with no option but to pull their children out of school.
3. The fall of chiefs
During the days of Odera Akang'o to several years ago, chiefs took it upon themselves to ensure that children went to school.
However, things have since changed and the same left under separate bodies, giving the youth and children the liberty to avoid schooling.
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