English in Odisha is taught as a compulsory subject starting from the primary to the Under Graduate level. It has assumed immense significance in the last few decades especially because of the demand for effective English communication skills in the contemporary job market. The present paper seeks to highlight some key issues concerning the teaching and learning of English at the Higher Secondary level in Odisha. The syllabus at this level aims at developing the four language skills in the students and has been designed accordingly. But there are problems that are hindering the achievement of this objective some of which have been discussed in this paper. Keywords: language skills, communicative competence, pedagogy