The theme of this working paper is gender and education in India, and more specifically the question why there is significantly higher participation of females in the education system in the state of Kerala compared to the toher states in India. Two different aspects are focused on: on the one hand, the role of the state, the communist state government's policies, have briefly been outlined. On the other hand, the existence of a certain type of family and household organisation, the matrilineal caste systems, has been regarded as significant.