THIS Government has made a virtue of its policy of encouraging as many young people as possible to go into higher education.

It does so, presumably, because it believes education is a worthwhile investment in the nation's future economic well-being.

However, such thinking is at odds with Education Secretary Charles Clarke's insistence on burdening students and their families with tuition fees.

Yesterday, Mr Clarke said he intended to press ahead with proposals to allow English universities to charge up to £3,000-a-year in top-up fees.

The Bill is expected to prompt a substantial rebellion among Labour backbenchers. It is to be hoped that the opposition is sufficient to persuade Mr Clarke and his colleagues of the error of their ways.

A generation ago, when Mr Clarke was a students' leader, it was possible for young people from deprived backgrounds to go to university without resorting to crippling loans or becoming a financial drain on their parents. In future this will not be possible.

Making it more difficult for young people from under-privileged backgrounds to go to university does not amount to progress.

Indeed, it flies in the face of this Government's avowed aim to create equal opportunities across all sections of our communities.

In a modern society access to education should be an absolute right. Linking access to the ability to pay is turning education into a privilege.

We accept that the increase in the number of young people wishing to go to university involves extra costs. With almost half of all schoolchildren going on to university it is unreasonable to expect higher education to be financed as it was a generation ago.

But as a nation we should welcome such a development, not decry it.

It is the duty of the Government to explore funding arrangements which are more sophisticated and equitable than simply putting families under strain and saddling students with debts as they embark on their tax-paying careers.

It is a nonsense for Mr Clarke to say there is no alternative to tuition fees. He has only to look across the border to Scotland to see an alternative that is working successfully.