Amos Dangut, the head of the West African Examinations Council’s (WAEC) national office, and Tunji Alausa, the minister of education, have been called before the Senate to discuss the abrupt introduction of new criteria for the 2025–2026 Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE).
According to reports, this resolution was the result of a motion made during Tuesday’s plenary by Senator Sunday Karimi (APC, Kogi West).
Karimi raised the motion under Orders 41 and 51 on urgent national problems, expressing grave worry over the sudden shift to the test system. He said that pupils who had not been taught the courses or prepared for the transition were being forced to follow the new curriculum.
He pointed out that SS3 kids who were supposed to take the May/June 2026 exam were being prematurely subjected to the policy, which was initially intended to start with SS1 pupils who were anticipated to take the WAEC in the 2027/2028 session.
For the next WAEC exams, each SS3 student will now need to take two or three more courses. These students are obviously unprepared and have not been given the courses, according to Karimi.
Senator Adams Oshiomhole, who supported the motion, criticized the policy’s abrupt implementation, calling it careless and ill-considered.
He remarked, “We wake up, think of an idea, and start to implement it.”
“Citizens should be informed and ready when a new topic is introduced. Do we have enough educators? Are the labs ready? That is not supported by any evidence. We shouldn’t make plans that will humiliate the nation.
Speaking as well, Senator Idiat Adebule (APC, Lagos West) emphasized the importance of due process, pointing out that the National Council on Education should have reviewed and approved such a significant change in policy.
Similarly, Senator Solomon Adeola (APC, Ogun West) contended that no pupil should be tested on topics for which they have not received enough instruction.
“Any kind of assessment must come after proper instruction. Testing pupils on unfamiliar material is unfair and unsound from an academic standpoint, he claimed.
Following much discussion, the Senate decided to call a public hearing of the WAEC chief and the Minister of Education before the Senate Committee on Basic and Secondary Education.
Additionally, lawmakers proposed that the revised standards should only apply to the current SS1 cohort, urging the Federal Government and WAEC to exempt current SS3 pupils from taking the 2026 WAEC under the new curriculum.
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