India, Dec. 10 -- A performance audit of Odisha's school education system has found a decline in Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER), Net Enrolment Rate (NER) and transition rates - key indicators of the educational status of a State - at secondary and higher secondary levels, even as these indicators improved nationally between 2018-19 and 2022-23.

The report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), tabled in the state assembly on Tuesday, flagged serious discrepancies in enrolment data, unreliable methodologies for computing key indicators, persistent high dropout numbers and over 61,000 out-of-school children (OoSC) who were never brought back into the education system. The audit said Odisha's educational statistics-critical for planning...