AS night follows day, it was only a matter of time before the UK government started to wade in over university fees for Channel Islands students.

However, last week’s announcement by Jersey’s head of careers, Andy Gibbs, that information is, as yet, ‘fairly vague’ will be little comfort to parents of teenagers fast approaching the age when they will have to leave school and find alternative ways of passing their time.

In truth, any further costs loaded on to potential undergraduates could not have come at a worse time. With the recession still biting, the UK economy was this week forecast by a new think tank – the Office for Budget Responsibility – to be likely to produce less revenue than previously estimated.

Even more worrying, economists are talking again about the possibility of a ‘double-dip’ recession, spurred on by the difficulties of countries using the euro currency.

As this year’s batch of Island school leavers prepare to take their seats at their desks for the final GCSE and A-level examinations, it will be with no certainty of a job at the end of the swotting.

And now, with university places likely to cost even more than in the past, parents may well be pushed to the utmost to provide their children with the opportunity to furnish themselves with a worthwhile qualification that should, if subjects are chosen wisely, stand them in good stead for life.

Unfortunately, those in later life who would like to change career – or who, increasingly, find themselves made redundant through no fault of their own – are also likely to encounter difficulty in the distance learning sector. The Open University has already classified Channel Island students as ‘foreign’, and those pursuing studies through that route are now paying double the fee.

This in itself will put many off trying to improve their chances of future employment by gaining a better toolbox of qualifications.

Of course, as the professor at Highlands College, Ed Sallis, has said, it is possible to complete degrees here. But in truth there is at present a limited selection to choose from – and even the popular art and design degree, for which the college has been purposely equipped, has seen numbers of applicants fall to the point where it will not be viable to run the course this coming year.

Is it my imagination, or are we going back to the bad old days when education was only for those who could afford to pay for it?