Now young recruits sign up online

The first batch of Emirati conscripts register for national service in Abu Dhabi in July last year. Ravindranath K / The National

ABU DHABI // Young Emiratis recruited for national service will soon be able to complete their paperwork online.

A new smart app will allow recruits to register information and upload documents, instead of having to visit a registration centre. The service will save time and reduce inconvenience, particularly for those who live far away from the centres, Brig Gen Mohammed Al Niyadi, head of strategic planning at the National Service Authority, told a strategic partners’ meeting.

At the moment recruits must visit a registration centre with the required information and documents, and then return later for medical tests.

The first two batches of recruits have already begun their national service training, and the third – young men born between 1989 and 1993 – are going through the registration process.

Gen Al Niyadi said the age group had been widened for the latest batch because many Emiratis aged between 25 to 30 held senior or managerial positions.

Some company directors faced a problem when a number of senior employees had to report for national service at the same time, so they had suggested recruiting lower level employees instead.

A representative from Adnoc asked about the recruitment of trainees and employees on scholarships. Adnoc has about 4,000 staff on scholarships in other countries.

Gen Al Niyadi said they were classed as students, and their recruitment was postponed until their studies were complete.

“But the management needs to present to us official documents to prove that they are students and so on,” Gen Al Niyadi said.

The same applied to high-school graduates who were employed by companies as trainees and after two or three years started working full time.

Gen Al Niyadi gave a comprehensive presentation showing the strategic plan of the National Service Authority.

He explained that the training programme consisted of six stages.

First came the notification phase, when the targeted age groups were specified. The second phase was when applicants in the specified group visited the centres to register and go through a medical test.

Their documents were audited, and fitness levels were gauged to establish whether the recruit would enrol in military training or alternative service.

The third stage was when recruits enrolled in the training centres for three months to receive military, fitness, security and nationalism training and education.

After that basic training stage, the recruits were divided between the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Interior and State Security.

The fifth stage involved specialised training for three months.

Finally, the recruits began their national service and applied what they had learnt.