The Senate on Tuesday raised the alarm over what it described as a looming national education crisis following the sudden implementation of a new curriculum and registration guideline issued by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), which compels current SS3 students to write examinations in subjects they were never taught.
The Red Chamber, after an extensive and heated debate, resolved to summon the minister of education and heads of all relevant agencies to explain the rationale behind the policy and assess Nigeria’s readiness for its execution.
Leading the motion, Senator Karimi Sunday-Steve (Kogi West), said the new WAEC guideline, originally scheduled to take effect in two years, had been abruptly imposed on students billed to sit for the May/June and November/December 2026 examinations.
He warned the policy amounted to “setting up millions of Nigerian children for mass failure.”
The motion, titled “Need for Federal Ministry of Education and the West African Examination Council to Review Their Policy and Implementation Date on the New Secondary School Curriculum,” drew unanimous concern from lawmakers.
Karimi explained the guideline immediately replaces core subjects such as Computer Studies, Civic Education, and all pre-Fourth Grade courses with entirely new practical subjects, including cosmetology, livestock farming, garment making, and solar installation, among others.
He said, “Under the new structure, students across all specialisations are left with only six examinable subjects, far below WAEC’s required minimum of eight.
“This means each SS3 pupil must suddenly take two or three new subjects they have never been taught, with no teachers, no laboratories, and no preparation.”
The senator urged WAEC and the Ministry of Education to exempt current SS3 students from the policy and implement the new curriculum from the 2027–2028 academic cycle, beginning with current SS1 students, to allow adequate preparation.
Seconding the motion, Senator Adams Oshiomhole (Edo North) condemned what he called “a culture of anarchism” in policy implementation.
He said government cannot “wake up overnight” and impose subjects without training teachers, preparing laboratories or informing parents.
He said, “In any civilised society, citizens are given two or three years’ notice before a major curriculum change.
“There is no evidence that teachers have been trained or facilities prepared. You cannot examine a child on a subject that was never taught.”
Senator Idiat Oluranti (Lagos Central) stressed that such a major shift cannot originate from the Federal Ministry of Education alone, noting that the National Council on Education, comprising all state commissioners, must approve it.
She called for a deeper probe into the entire curriculum revamp.
Senator Solomon Adeola (Ogun West) warned that most of the new subjects are practical and resource-intensive, and that “the fear expressed by parents and schools is valid.”
Senate President Godswill Akpabio, after putting the matter to vote, ruled that the chamber would suspend all further directives until the minister of education and heads of relevant agencies appear before the Senate Committee on Basic and Secondary Education.
Akpabio described the matter as “very weighty,” noting the Senate must act swiftly “to prevent mass failure in the 2026 WAEC examinations.”
He directed the Committee on Basic and Secondary Education to invite the minister immediately and report back to the Senate within two weeks.
“We cannot allow this policy to jeopardise the future of our children,” he said.
The Senate is expected to revisit the matter before the end of the year after receiving the committee’s report.
