The Senate has summoned the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, and the Head of the National Office of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Amos Dangut, to explain the sudden introduction of new guidelines for the 2025/2026 Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE).
The resolution followed a motion raised on Tuesday by Senator Sunday Karimi (APC, Kogi West), who warned that the revised guidelines had abruptly altered subject requirements for students preparing for the May/June examinations.
Karimi told the chamber that the changes introduced new subjects into the curriculum and were being imposed on SS3 students who had received no prior instruction.
Invoking Orders 41 and 51 on urgent national matters, he noted that the directive compels all final-year secondary school students nationwide to adopt a curriculum originally meant to take effect in two years—targeted at students currently in SS1, who are scheduled to sit for WAEC in the 2027/2028 cycle.
According to him, the policy would force SS3 students to write two or three additional subjects in the forthcoming examinations, despite having no adequate preparation or classroom exposure to the new courses.
Lawmakers supported the motion, describing the policy rollout as premature and poorly planned.
Senator Adams Oshiomhole criticised the abruptness of the implementation.
“We wake up, create an idea, and immediately begin to implement it. For a new subject to start, citizens should be well-informed and prepared. Do we have enough teachers? Have we prepared the laboratories? There is no evidence of that. We must avoid embarrassing the country,” he said.
Senator Idiat Adebule (Lagos West) called for a thorough investigation, stressing that such decisions typically pass through the National Council on Education.
Senator Solomon Adeola (Ogun West) added that no student should be examined on subjects they have not been taught, insisting that proper instruction must come before assessment.
After deliberations, the Senate directed the Minister of Education to appear at a public hearing before the Senate Committee on Basic and Secondary Education.
The lawmakers also recommended that the Federal Government and WAEC exempt current SS3 students from writing the 2026 WAEC under the new curriculum. The updated guidelines, they said, should apply only to students presently in SS1.
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