Bhubaneswar: Odisha's school education system has secured a place among India's better-performing states, but the latest Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2.0 2025-26 released by the Union Education Ministry reveals a more nuanced reality.

While Odisha figured in the country's top performer lists overall in school education, the latest Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2.0 2025-26 reveals a story of both resilience and unfinished reform.

The state secured 651.5 points out of 1,000, retaining its Prachesta-2 grade despite a marginal decline from 655.2 points recorded in the previous assessment. While the drop of 3.7 points may appear insignificant, it underscores a larger reality: Odisha's education system seemingly have plateaued and is no longer improving fast enough to keep pace with the country's best-performing states.

An analysis of the six domains measured under PGI 2.0 shows Odisha's strengths in governance, access, equity and teacher education, while exposing the biggest challenge that has haunted the state's education system for years: translating investments into actual learning outcomes.

Odisha Among India's Top Five Overall

With an overall score of 651.5 out of 1000, Odisha has been placed in the Prachesta-2 category.

Only five States/UTs ranked higher than Odisha:

• Chandigarh (Uttam – 3)
• Kerala (Prachesta – 1)
• Punjab (Prachesta – 1)
• Delhi (Prachesta – 1)
• Odisha (Prachesta – 2)

Odisha thus remains among India's better-performing education systems. However, dip in score in 2025-26, suggests that improvements elsewhere have outpaced Odisha's progress.

How Odisha Compares Across Every Domain

Domain	Odisha	National Leaders	Odisha's Position
Learning Outcomes	99.3/240	Punjab	Needs improvement
Access	65.2/80	Kerala, Puducherry	Strong (Uttam – 1)
Infrastructure	113.17/190	Chandigarh, Delhi	Above average
Equity	225.7/260	Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Chandigarh	Excellent (Uttam=1)
Governance	71.1/130	Chandigarh	Not Good (Prachesta-1) Below 11 states
Teacher Education	77/100	Kerala, Lakshadweep	Strong (in Top 10)

Learning Outcomes Remain Odisha's Weakest Link

This is perhaps the most important finding.

Despite years of spending on classrooms, digital learning, smart schools and teacher recruitment, Odisha continues to trail the country's best-performing states in actual student learning.

Odisha scored:

99.3 out of 240

The national benchmark belongs to Punjab, the only state to achieve the Uttam-3 grade in learning outcomes.

The report itself notes that learning outcomes are the ultimate objective of school education and are measured through the PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024.

Why this matters

Learning Outcomes contribute 24% of the total PGI score, making them the single biggest determinant of overall educational quality.

This suggests Odisha has improved schooling – but not necessarily learning.

Access: Odisha Competes with India's Best

Here comes one of Odisha's strongest performances.

The state secured:

65.2 out of 80

placing it in the Uttam-1 grade.

The national leaders are Kerala and Puducherry, but Odisha is not far behind.

This reflects:

• better enrolment
• improved retention
• higher transition rates
• reduced dropout

The report highlights universal access as a major objective under NEP 2020.

Infrastructure: Good, But Not India's Best

Odisha scored:

113.17 out of 190

This places it in the Prachesta-1 category.

The leaders are:

• Chandigarh
• Delhi
• Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu
• Lakshadweep

Infrastructure indicators include:

• ICT labs
• Smart classrooms
• Science labs
• Libraries
• Drinking water
• Solar panels
• Rainwater harvesting
• Mid-Day Meal implementation
• Health check-ups
• Sanitary facilities

Odisha performs respectably but still trails states with better digital and school infrastructure.

Equity: Odisha's Biggest Success Story

Perhaps the state's biggest achievement lies here.

Odisha scored:

225.7 out of 260

earning Uttam-1.

Only three jurisdictions—

• Chandigarh
• Delhi
• Tamil Nadu

reached the top Utkarsh grade.

Equity measures whether educational gaps between:

• SC and General students
• ST and General students
• Rural and Urban students
• Boys and Girls

are narrowing.

Given Odisha's large tribal population, this score indicates significant success in reducing educational disparities.

Governance: Odisha Scores Well But Can Improve

Odisha recorded:

71.1 out of 130

This includes indicators like:

• Aadhaar-linked student records
• Digital attendance
• Teacher deployment
• Release of education funds
• Internet usage
• Cyber safety orientation

Chandigarh leads the country in governance processes.

Odisha remains comfortably above many large states but has room to improve digital governance.

Teacher Education: Odisha Among Better Performers

Odisha scored:

77 out of 100

placing it in Uttam-2.

Only Kerala and Lakshadweep achieved the top grade.

The score reflects:

• professionally qualified teachers
• CWSN-trained teachers
• career counselling
• teacher database quality

This indicates that teacher preparation is not Odisha's biggest bottleneck.

How Odisha Compares with Major States

State	Score
Chandigarh	766
Punjab	723.6
Kerala	716.8
Delhi	712.2
Odisha	651.5
Maharashtra	654.6
Tamil Nadu	628.4
Karnataka	595.6
Gujarat	604.2
Telangana	599.7
Uttar Pradesh	579.9
Bihar	564.8
West Bengal	578.0

Interestingly, Odisha outperforms several economically stronger states, including Karnataka, Gujarat, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal in overall school education performance.

The Big Picture

The report presents Odisha as a state with a balanced education system rather than one driven by excellence in a single area. Strong scores in access, equity and teacher development indicate that foundational systems are largely in place. However, the relatively modest performance in learning outcomes suggests that better infrastructure and governance have yet to translate into proportionately better classroom learning.

For the Mohan Majhi government, this creates a clear policy challenge. The next phase of education reform may need to shift from building schools and improving administrative systems to raising student proficiency in language, mathematics and science. Sustained improvements in these core learning indicators could determine whether Odisha moves from the Prachesta-2 band into the country's highest-performing group in future editions of the PGI.  

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