The Government is set to improve the training subsidy scheme (STAP stands for STimulering ArbeidsmarktPositie). This is evident from a recent letter from the Ministers for Social Affairs and for Education.
We describe the STAP scheme in our article Study Costs Grant (STAP).The scheme came into force on 1 March 2022 and has been widely utilised ever since. However, the scheme needs to be made stricter and more rigorous in a number of respects:
- tackling abuse and misuse;
- tailoring education to the needs of the labour market;
- accessibility for (small) training providers;
- improving the application process.
Tackling abuse and misuse
On the one hand, this involves intensive efforts by the Assessment Board of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, which assesses whether training programmes meet the STAP objective and the subsidy conditions. On the other hand, quality assurance through quality marks (NRTO and CEDEO) must be improved. As a third measure, the number of STAP grants per course will be capped.
Labour market relevance
The STAP scheme is characterised by a high degree of freedom of choice regarding the training to be undertaken. However, it has become apparent that the chosen training is not always suited to the situation on the labour market. The Review Board will examine this issue, focusing in particular on the “grey” area (the non-formal provision of training courses).
Small providers
Small providers often do not have access to the STAP scheme because they are not affiliated with a quality mark or accreditation scheme, often because this is too expensive. With this in mind, the number of quality marks is being expanded.
Application procedure
Problems with the application process include the fact that applicants often have to wait a long time and that the available funds are quickly exhausted due to the high volume of applications. Work is underway to make changes to the application process to prevent long queues.