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 appear before it over the sudden introduction of new guidelines for the 2025/2026 Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE).
Naijaonpoint reports that this resolution followed a motion moved by Senator Sunday Karimi (APC, Kogi West) during plenary on Tuesday.
Raising the motion under Orders 41 and 51 on urgent national matters, Karimi expressed deep concern over the abrupt change to the examination structure, saying the new curriculum was being imposed on students who had neither been taught the subjects nor prepared for the transition.
He noted that the policy, originally designed to begin with students currently in SS1, expected to take WAEC in the 2027/2028 session, was being prematurely applied to SS3 students scheduled to sit for the May/June 2026 examination.
“Each SS3 student will now be required to take two or three additional subjects in the upcoming WAEC exams. These students have not been taught the courses and are clearly unprepared,” Karimi said.
Backing the motion, Senator Adams Oshiomhole criticised the sudden implementation of the policy, describing it as reckless and poorly thought-out.
“We wake up and think of an idea, and begin to implement it,” he said.
“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 should not plan in a way that will bring embarrassment to the country.”
Also speaking, Senator Idiat Adebule (APC, Lagos West) stressed the need for due process, noting that such a major policy shift should have passed through the National Council on Education for deliberation and approval.
In the same vein, Senator Solomon Adeola (APC, Ogun West) argued that no student should be examined on subjects they have not been properly taught.
“Proper instruction must precede any form of assessment. It is unjust and academically unsound to test students on unfamiliar content,” he said.
After extensive deliberation, the Senate resolved to summon both the Minister of Education and the WAEC chief to appear before the Senate Committee on Basic and Secondary Education for a public hearing.
Lawmakers also urged the Federal Government and WAEC to exempt current SS3 students from writing the 2026 WAEC under the new curriculum, proposing that the updated guidelines should take effect only from the cohort presently in SS1.
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