Panic as school unveils new WASSCE subject offerings for students in SS3

A Lagos school has abruptly communicated new subject offerings for the 2026 West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE), causing panic among students already in class 3.

On Saturday, TheCable obtained a communique from the Nigeria Air Force Secondary School in Ikeja Lagos addressed to parents.

The communique disclosed that the West African Examination Council (WAEC) has adopted new subject offerings for its 2026 SSCE.

The adjustments, it stated, will apply to SS3 students, who did not offer those subjects but will write the WASSCE in under six months.

Nigeria earlier launched a new basic and secondary education curriculum, with implementation set for the 2025/2026 academic year.

The latest revisions aimed to reduce subject overload, incorporating new skills like digital literacy and entrepreneurship.

The reform also reintroduced history as a standalone subject at the basic education level.

The education ministry had stated that implementation would commence at the beginning of each three-year education cycle.

This meant that incoming students in Primary 1, Primary 4, JSS1 and SS1 would be taught the revised curricula as unveiled.

Students already halfway through each cycle were to finish with the old curriculum, which would eventually be phased out.

However, the communique obtained by TheCable indicates otherwise, with WAEC purportedly moving to introduce the revised subject offerings in its 2026 SSCE for students who were not taught those subjects.

The move has stirred panic among students, guardians, and parents alike who are seeking clarity on the policy’s direction.

Calls and messages to Moyosola Adesina, spokesperson of WAEC, are yet to receive a response as of this reporting.

Folashade Boriowo, press director at the education ministry, told TheCable that only WAEC can answer to how it is going about implementing the curriculum.

It is still unclear if adopting the subject offerings in the new curriculum as from the 2026 SSCE is a general policy direction at WAEC.