Odisha Ranks in Top 5 States in School Education: PGI 2.0 Report

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State makes significant progress in access, infrastructure, and student outcomes under 5T initiative; digital literacy remains a concern

By PRADEEO KUMAR PANDA

BHUBANESWAR, July 3, 2025 – Odisha has emerged as one of the top five performing states in school education, according to the latest Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2.0 report by the Ministry of Education for the academic years 2022–23 and 2023–24. The state secured the 5th rank nationally, with a score of 595.6, earning the Prachesta-3 grade in the School Grading System.

This marks a significant improvement from 14th position in 2019, reflecting Odisha’s sustained focus on transforming its government school education system. The PGI 2.0 evaluates performance across 73 indicators in two major categories: Outcomes and Governance & Management, with states scored out of 1,000 points.

Under the state’s flagship 5T initiative, nearly 8,000 government schools have been transformed, laying a robust foundation to enhance learning outcomes, increase student aspirations, and improve access to education.

“Odisha believes the future of the state lies in empowering every child through quality education. It is heartening to see that this foundation is helping our students excel,” an official from the School and Mass Education Department said.

Key Areas of Progress

Odisha has shown notable improvement in domains such as student enrolment, retention, grade transition, and mainstreaming of out-of-school children. The state’s access domain score increased from 59.2 in 2022–23 to 65.6 in 2023–24, placing it alongside Bihar and Telangana as the top three states in this category.

The PGI also assessed states across 10 domains, including learning outcomes, quality of education, infrastructure, equity, teacher training, and governance processes. While no state (except Chandigarh) scored in the top bracket (700–1,000 points), Odisha was among the 10 states that scored between 581 and 640, securing the Prachesta-3 grade.

District-Level Highlights

As part of the PGI-D (district-specific) assessment, districts were evaluated out of 600 points across six categories. Jharsuguda emerged as the top-performing district in both academic years, while Rayagada ranked lowest. Categories included learning outcomes, classroom transaction, infrastructure, child protection, digital learning, and governance.

However, a key area of concern remains digital literacy. Except for Jharsuguda, Khurda, Sambalpur, and Sonepur, no other district scored above 20 out of 50 in digital learning.

While Odisha’s ranking among the top five states signals significant progress in public education, especially in access and equity, experts emphasize the need for targeted interventions in digital literacy, teacher training, and technological integration to bridge the digital divide and ensure future-ready classrooms.

The PGI report has once again highlighted that systemic reforms—when driven by clear policy, committed governance, and community involvement—can deliver substantial results in improving public education outcomes.

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