The education ministry’s performance grading index (PGI) has ranked Assam and Tripura at Level 4, the best among the northeastern states, while Arunachal Pradesh settled at the bottom of the grading system, which is a unique index for comprehensive analysis of the school education system, a Times of India report said.

The PGI is based on 70 indicators and two categories with five domains.
The scores are the aggregate scores of five domains of educational attainment — Learning Outcomes (LO), Access (A), Infrastructure & Facilities (IF), Equity (E) and Governance Process (GP). The data for PGI 2020-21 is drawn from several sources, including the all-India surveys.

Assam and Tripura are ranked at Level 4, which categorizes the states scoring between 801 and 850. Both the northeastern states are ranked on a par with Chhattisgarh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand and Ladakh, the report stated.

Mizoram stands at Level 5 (scores: 751–800), with five other states, while three states from the region--- Manipur, Meghalaya and Nagaland — have been ranked at Level 6 (701–750) where a total four states, including Uttarakhand, are categorised. Arunachal is at the bottom of the rankings at Level 7 (score: 651 - 700).

No state in the country could attain the highest Level 1 status.