Bhubaneswar: The share of women in Odisha with at least 10 years of schooling rose sharply by 10.9 percentage points to 43.9%, from 33% in NFHS-5, with all 30 districts recording improvement, though the pace varied considerably.
The strongest gains came in Mayurbhanj, Kalahandi, Jajapur and Dhenkanal, which recorded increases of more than 15 percentage points. Mayurbhanj registered the highest rise of 17.2 points, taking its share from 25.1% to 42.3%.
Several districts that have relatively low levels of women’s schooling in NFHS-5 also made substantial gains, including Gajapati, Boudh and Kalahandi, indicating improved access to and continuation in education.
However, southern districts continued to lag. Malkangiri had the lowest proportion of women with 10 or more years of schooling at 18.5%, followed by Nabarangpur (23%), Rayagada (24.8%) and Koraput (26.8%).
On the other hand, Khordha recorded the highest attainment in NFHS-6 at 56.3%, followed by Kataka (54.4%), Jharsuguda (54.1%) and Jajpur (53.4%).
The pace of improvement has been relatively slow in Bargada, Malkangiri, Ganjam and Rayagada, where the increase was below six percentage points.
The district-wise pattern points to broad-based progress in women’s educational attainment but persistent regional disparities, particularly in parts of southern Odisha, highlighting the need for targeted efforts to improve secondary-level education.
