Nigeria’s Senate has intervened decisively in a mounting crisis within the education sector, summoning the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, and the Head of the National Office of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Dr. Amos Dangut, to address contentious new guidelines for the 2025/2026 Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE).
Lawmakers expressed grave alarm that the abrupt policy changes could lead to widespread failure among hundreds of thousands of SS3 students nationwide, undermining years of preparation and eroding public confidence in the examination system.
The urgency stemmed from a motion raised by Senator Sunday Karimi (Kogi-West), who criticized WAEC’s decision to enforce a new curriculum immediately, despite prior indications that it was slated for implementation two years later, targeting students currently in SS1 for the 2027/2028 session. Key subjects such as Computer Studies, Civic Education, and all previously approved trade subjects have been excised from the 2026 SSCE list, leaving candidates in science, humanities, and business tracks with at most six subjects—well below WAEC’s stipulated minimum of eight and maximum of nine.
Karimi highlighted the dire fallout, noting that students would now need to register for two to three unfamiliar subjects mere months before exams, including new trade offerings like Beauty and Cosmetology, Fashion Design and Garment Making, Livestock Farming, Computer Hardware and GSM Repairs, Solar Photovoltaic Installation, and Horticulture, without any prior instruction.
“This is how mass failure begins,” Karimi cautioned, emphasizing that while curriculum reform is overdue, it must be phased humanely to avoid punishing current students.
Senators from across party lines rallied behind the motion, advocating for an exemption of 2025/2026 candidates and deferral of the changes to the 2027/2028 cycle. Former Nigeria Labour Congress President and Senator Adams Oshiomhole delivered a pointed rebuke against hasty policymaking, stating, “We wake up, think of an idea and immediately begin to implement it. Do we have enough teachers? Have laboratories been prepared? The evidence doesn’t exist. We shouldn’t plan in a way that will embarrass us as a nation.”
Senator Idiat Adebule, former Lagos State Deputy Governor, endorsed a thorough probe, pointing out that such major shifts typically require endorsement from the National Council of Education, involving all 36 state commissioners. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Senator Adeola Olamilekan reinforced the need for exams to align with taught content, declaring, “Students must have adequate tutoring before WAEC can examine them,” and underscoring the Minister’s accountability.
In response, the Senate referred the issue to its Committee on Basic and Secondary Education, tasking it with a comprehensive investigation into the guidelines and a report within two weeks. This move offers hope to anxious parents, teachers, and students facing potential academic derailment, amid parallel concerns like WAEC’s paused computer-based testing plans for 2026.
The controversy underscores longstanding tensions in Nigeria’s education reforms, where ambitious updates risk clashing with infrastructural realities and student readiness.
