AS part of its commitment to its flagship education policy, the Government's bid to encourage more teenagers to take part in post-16 studies by giving them free travel to college may seem a positive incentive.

But the string attached to it as the scheme is piloted here in Lancashire -- amounting to selection by post code -- is a drawback that needs to be confronted.

For the way it works means that students living in Blackburn and Darwen are excluded.

The Government has given funding to Lancashire County Council to enable college pupils living in its area to travel free on trains and buses to their courses. Those living in unitary Blackburn with Darwen education authority's area do not qualify.

But though this situation may be viewed as one arising from boundary lines having to be drawn somewhere and the scheme being one that is subject to a localised trial, it nevertheless has an unfair impact that cannot be so easily dismissed. For the feared effect on Blackburn College is that, when the new allowance comes into operation in Lancashire next September, its intake could plunge as students travel to other colleges. Since intake and the college's revenue go hand in hand and its own scheme to help students with travel costs comes from its own budget, this amounts to a recipe for running down further education at Blackburn.

That, surely, contradicts the scheme's aim of boosting post-16 learning, and when Blackburn College already has the second-lowest staying-on rate in East Lancashire, it is hardly helping it to improve that situation either.

What is needed is equality on help with travel costs for all students -- so providing equality of opportunity for further education and ensuring its quality is kept up across the board.

The Government must be pressed to end the Blackburn with Darwen exclusion zone.

And if that cannot be achieved in time for the new college year, the unitary education authority must consider boosting the contribution it makes to Blackburn College's students' travel fund while the college itself turns to the funding body for further education to demand its urgent intervention.