Nagaland has the highest dropout rate at primary level of 19.4 per cent in the country while most other north eastern states have a dropout rate far above the national average.

In a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, HRD Minister Smriti Irani said, “Overall the annual average dropout rate at primary level has reduced from 5.6 per cent during 2012-13 to 4.3 per cent during 2014-15.”

In a written reply to a separate question, Irani said lack of toilet facilities in schools for girl child has been one of the reasons for girls to dropout from schools, said a PTI report.

According to details of the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) shared by the minister, in 2014-15 Nagaland had the highest annual average dropout rate of 19.4 per cent closely followed by Manipur at 18 per cent.

Several other north eastern states - Mizoram (13 per cent), Arunachal Pradesh (10.9 per cent), Meghalaya (10.3 per cent) - have a dropout rate in double figures, far above the national avarage.

Assam has a dropout rate of 7.4 per cent while Sikkim had a dropout rate of 4.6 per cent during 2014-15. Tripura, however, was an exception, showing a dropout rate of 3.6 percent, lower than the national average.

While most of the states have shown a decline in dropout rate, the figure has increased in most of the north eastern states.