Nagaland Survey: Girls lead in enrolment, retention; boys see higher dropouts

KOHIMA — Girls recorded lower dropout and repetition rates than boys across all levels of school education—primary, upper primary, elementary, secondary and higher secondary—in Nagaland between 2021 and 2024.

This was stated in the Nagaland Economic Survey 2025–26 report issued by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Nagaland.

According to the report, based on data from UDISE+ (Unified District Information System for Education Plus), girls consistently recorded higher Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER), retention rate and promotion rate than boys at all levels during 2021–22 to 2023–24. Conversely, girls registered lower dropout and repetition rates than boys across all levels during the same period.

The highest dropout rate was recorded in 2023–24, with boys in higher secondary registering 24.27%.

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In 2021–22, the dropout rate at the primary level was 6% for boys and 5% for girls. At the upper primary level, it was 4% for boys and 2% for girls; at the elementary level, 5% for boys and 4% for girls; at the secondary level, 10% for boys and 7% for girls; and at the higher secondary level, 16% for boys and 12% for girls.

In 2022–23, the dropout rate stood at 8.51% for boys and 8.9% for girls at the primary level; 8.27% for boys and 7.12% for girls at the upper primary level; 8.43% for boys and 8.26% for girls at the elementary level; 21.21% for boys and 15.47% for girls at the secondary level; and 10.37% for boys and 4.64% for girls at the higher secondary level.

In 2023–24, the dropout rate was 6.02% for boys and 5.81% for girls at the primary level; 6.59% for boys and 5.21% for girls at the upper primary level; 6.22% for boys and 5.59% for girls at the elementary level; 18.98% for boys and 14.81% for girls at the secondary level; and 24.27% for boys and 20.22% for girls at the higher secondary level.