A Primary Perceptions survey of Primary 6 pupils by questionnaire helped flag issues most liable to affect school enrolment and wastage figures in all seven countries. Issues stood out that can influence both male and female participation in education yet affect girls more than boys.

Not surprisingly, pupils from bigger and poorer families were more likely to feel that going to school was costly and to express negative views about the need for girls to go to school. They were also more prone to expect to leave school at the end of the year and to parent big families of their own in the future. Rural families were more likely to suffer the disadvantages that prompt such attitudes, on top of which disapproval (especially among boys) of girls going to school proved more rife in rural areas.

Attempts to boost participation by girls in education should take heed above all of socio-economic pitfalls. Though relatively simple steps can be taken to mitigate (say) financial drawbacks like high costs of school fees, books and clothing, it is not enough to make schooling for girls more accessible or affordable. Parents have to feel not merely able but willing to send daughters to school. They will not become willing unless or until the 'cultural capacity' of their society renders it open to changes in traditional gender relationships. In two cases (Jamaica and the Seychelles) where a pattern is found of girls not only participating in education to the full at primary level but also out-performing boys, it was noteworthy that 'mother-focused' households where mothers rule the roost are a long-established tradition.

These results raise a host of policy implications, among them the need to support non-formal education projects led by nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) that discriminate positively in favour of girl participants. NGOs should also be encouraged to come up with schemes for donor funding that promise to raise numbers of girls progressing from primary to secondary schooling. Schemes aimed at enhancing female participation in schooling should be tied in wherever possible with concerted health, environment and economic development plans, especially in rural areas. In addition, assistance should be given to adjust the school day and year to realities of rural life and of home and farm labour demands. Policymakers should also move towards:

• raising male awareness of communal and family benefits arising from female schooling
• eliminating gender bias from textbooks and other standard teaching and learning materials
• subsidising provision to girls of books, other learning materials and uniforms or clothing
• building more single-sex schools for girls, with residential capacity for pupils and teachers
• providing safe conditions and accommodation for female teachers, especially in rural areas.