Ministry of Manpower Removes Graduation Year Restriction for 2026 National Vocational Training

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Manpower (Kemnaker) is expanding access to the 2026 Batch 1 National Vocational Training programme by removing the graduation year restriction. “The removal of the graduation year restriction is a form of our commitment to opening up training access as widely as possible for the public,” said the Director General of Vocational Training and Productivity Development (Binalavotas) of Kemnaker, Darmawansyah, in his statement in Jakarta on Sunday. Darmawansyah stated that this policy opens opportunities for high school (SMA)/vocational high school (SMK)/Islamic senior high school (MA) graduates or equivalents, including older graduates, to enhance their skills and job prospects, targeting 20,000 participants. Furthermore, he assessed that this policy is taken so that training access is not only for new graduates but also for older graduates who need competency improvements. Previously, the programme was only intended for graduates from 2023-2025. Now, that provision has been removed to expand training access. According to him, this change is important because there are still many high school (SMA)/vocational high school (SMK)/Islamic senior high school (MA) equivalent graduates who have not had the chance to participate in training to strengthen their work qualifications with relevant skills to be more competitive. “This becomes an opportunity for older graduates to re-enhance their competencies, so they can be more prepared to enter and compete in the workforce,” he said. He added that the vocational training organised by Kemnaker is designed based on the needs of the business world and industry (link and match), so participants are equipped with relevant and applicable skills. Opportunities to participate in the training are now even more widely open. Registration is not only available at the Vocational Training and Productivity Centres (BPVP) of Kemnaker, also known as training centres (BLK), but also through regional government BLKs. The involvement of more training institutions is expected to expand the reach of services and make it easier for the public to access training in more areas. The 2026 National Vocational Training programme is open to Indonesian citizens aged at least 17 years and high school (SMA)/vocational high school (SMK)/Islamic senior high school (MA) graduates or equivalents. Training participants will receive various facilities, including free training and lunch, transport allowance assistance, Work Accident Insurance (JKK) and Death Insurance (JKM) protection through the Manpower Social Security Agency (BPJS Ketenagakerjaan), training certificates from BPVP, and competency certificates from the National Professional Certification Agency (BNSP). Dormitory facilities are also available according to criteria and availability. Kemnaker invites the public to take advantage of this opportunity by registering immediately through the Kemnaker Skillhub platform at skillhub.kemnaker.go.id before the registration deadline on 24 March 2026.