Nagaland, for the first time in an academic year, has eliminated all zero-enrolment and single-teacher schools.

According to the Union Ministry of Education’s latest UDISE+ report (2024-25) released last month, the number of schools in the state rose marginally from 2,725 in 2023-24 to 2,750 in 2024-25. However, schools reporting zero enrolment dropped from 12 to none, and all 31 single-teacher institutions were phased out.

As a result, no students are enrolled in such schools this year, compared to 368 in the previous year. Additionally, 24 teachers previously posted at zero-enrolment schools have been absorbed into fully functioning institutions.

Nagaland’s teacher count rose to 33,131 in 2024-25 from 32,602 the previous year, maintaining a favourable pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) of 13-well below the national average of 24.Despite the increase, the average number of teachers per school remained at 12.

Student enrolment in the state also rose slightly to over 4 lakh 14 thousand from 4 lakh 12 thousand though average enrolment per school dipped slightly from 152 to 151.

Nationally, school enrolment reached 24.69 crore across 14.71 lakh schools, with the number of teachers crossing the 1 crore mark for the first time, totaling 1,01,22,420 in 2024-25. The national average stood at 168 students and 7 teachers per school.