Labour MPs want education minister Jet Bussemaker to withdraw plans to allow universities to experiment with higher fees for some categories of students, website nu.nl reports on Tuesday.

The plan to allow universities to charge ‘excellent’ students more money for extra courses comes from the coalition VVD party and was drawn up by the previous cabinet.

However, Bussemaker, herself a Labour minister, plans to press ahead with the idea, even though it had technically been ditched in return for support for abolishing student grants, nu.nl says.

‘The proposal does not take the students’ backgrounds into account,’ Labour MP Mohammed Mohandis told nu.nl. ‘Soon we will end up with a communication studies degree and an “excellent” communications studies degree for people who can pay the difference.’

The opposition parties are also opposed to Bussemaker’s plan and Labour’s lack of support means it has little chance of success.

VVD parliamentarians are angry and say Labour is proving itself to be ‘untrustworthy’.

‘Universities can raise their profile by offering more courses of excellence,’ said VVD MP Pieter Duissenberg. ‘This was part of the agreement reached between the cabinet and universities.’