By Jennifer Yusuf
As part of efforts to sustain the quality of education in Nigerian Air Force (NAF) schools, the NAF has inaugurated the maiden edition of the Young Education Officers’ Induction Course (YEOIC 1/2019) at the Air Force Military School (AFMS) in Jos, Plateau State.
The YEOIC 1/2019 is designed to expose newly commissioned officers of Direct Short Service Course (DSSC 28) to the key aspects of Education Management in order to enable them function effectively and efficiently in line with the ethics of the teaching profession.
The 77 participants of the 3-week YEOIC would also be intimated with the guiding principles that have enabled the NAF Directorate of Education (DOEDN) to sustain the laudable performance recorded in NAF schools over the years.
In his remarks during the inauguration ceremony, the Guest of Honour, Air Officer Commanding Ground Training Command (AOC GTC), Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Idi Amin, noted that the YEOIC could not have come at a better time than now, when the NAF is striving to attain world-class levels of efficiency, professionalism and discipline. He therefore commended the leadership of the NAF, under Air Marshal Sadique Abubarkar, the Administration Branch as well as the DOEDN for the introduction of the YEOIC, which, he said, would awaken the spirit of excellence among Education Officers in the NAF. The AOC added that the NAF places high responsibility on the young officers to provide leadership, which could only be effectively achieved by inspiring the trust and confidence of the followers.
Speaking further, the AOC stated that the primary objective of the YEOIC was to equip participants with requisite knowledge to facilitate their work as Education Officers. While acknowledging the huge task ahead of them, AVM Amin advised the officers to ensure they derive maximum benefits from the Course. According to him “as the current leadership of the NAF continues to vigorously pursue the agenda of professionalism, I wish to remind you of your sworn commitment to uphold the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and always conduct yourselves in a manner befitting of a professional military officer”, he said.
Earlier in his welcome address, the NAF Director of Education, Group Captain Samson Adelakun, thanked the current leadership of the NAF for providing the needed support and logistics that had made it possible for the Directorate to organise its maiden YEOIC. He admonished the young officers to shun negative habits and vices which could truncate their career growth, whilst urging them to work assiduously towards the development of the NAF Education Specialty.
In order to enhance the quality of education services in its units across the country, the NAF has, over the last 4 years, renovated and remodelled existing infrastructure, as well as constructed new blocks of classrooms and hostel accommodations in its schools, while establishing 2 entirely new secondary schools. The new schools are; the elite Air Force Girls Comprehensive School Abuja and the Air Force Secondary School (AFSS) Shasha, Lagos. AFSS Kaduna was also upgraded to a boarding school and renamed Air Force Comprehensive School Kaduna. This is aside the numerous capacity building initiatives that have empowered the faculty of NAF schools for better performance. One of the results of these efforts is the excellent performance recorded by Master Peter Seunara Arotiba, who stunned the academic world by emerging as the best overall candidate in the 2018 May/June West African Examination Council (WAEC) Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) in the whole of West Africa, with 9 A-1s in 9 Subjects, beating over 1.9 Million candidates that sat for the Examination. The YEOIC, which would come to an end on 6 September 2019, is expected to position the participants to create an environment to replicate such results when they report to their various units at the end of the Course.
