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More than half of last year’s STAP scheme training budget ended up with a team of twenty trainers. The more than 104 million euros they received were used for training courses for, among others, walking coach, drone pilot or orthomolecular therapist, reports Follow the money.
The news platform obtained this information through an appeal to the Open Government Act (Woo, the successor to the Wob). Large training institutes such as NHA and LOI lead the list, receiving nearly 28 and more than 20 million euros respectively, according to data requested by the Ministry of Social Affairs.
The top five vendors who received the majority of the STAP budget
| Supplier | Quantity | |
| NHA | 27,890,364 | |
| I | 20,189,500 | |
| The audio | 10,557,860 | |
| Growth Tribe Education BV | 8,303,264 | |
| NTI-NL | 7,058,907 |
Most of the further training took place in digital marketing and sales, personal effectiveness, and training to become a coach. Another popular training was an online investing course.
According to the research platform, course provider Madelon Vos earned 2 million euros in the last year. In the online lessons you study ‘technical analysis’ charts and previous stock market developments. Students would thus acquire the basic knowledge to recognize patterns and make predictions about the future of the market.
Madelon Vos, who is active on Youtube and is also known as Miss Bitcoin, tells Follow the Money that the amount she earned is incorrect. She also says that her education fits well into the STAP budget and that the students have laid the groundwork for getting started in the finance industry.
Wasps and other gifts
Vos’ course also worked with a marketing model where people could introduce new students. In addition, the sender received 100 euros from the STAP budget, the rest went to Vos himself. The multiple deferrals have also led to other prizes, such as a Vespa scooter for 100 registrations and a set of airpods for 5. Vos says he stopped using that strategy after parliamentary questions were asked about it.
“Because everything is online, the YouTuber was able to ‘teach’ more than 2,500 students in 2022,” writes Follow the Money.
One of the other top earners, coach Civas, earned more than 5 million euros from STAP students. Including training orthomolecular therapist it was popular there. The Association Against Quackery tells Follow the Money that there is no scientific basis for that profession.
The money will again be available for next year’s STAP budget, totaling €200 million. The first round of questions, which was to begin on January 2, is from the cabinet deleted. According to the government, there are abuses and it takes time to introduce rules that prevent this.
An independent evaluation chamber has been set up to check whether the programs comply with the rules. This involves more than three thousand courses by 200 trainers.
Revenue model
Social Affairs Minister Van Gennip wants the budget to be used more specifically for professions in the health and education sectors. It happens too little now. Furthermore, the minister wants to prevent STAP from being used as an income model. As of this year, suppliers can no longer admit an unlimited number of people to a training course.
The next round of applying for a STAP budget starts on February 28th. So it must be clear which formation does not meet the conditions of the STAP. There will be 4 more moments this year.
