Christopher Pyne has denied Australia’s education system has reached crisis point.
Appearing on Monday night’s Q&A program, Mr Pyne was asked a number of questions about education and youth unemployment.
At one point, fellow guest and actor Tony Barry asked the minister to clarify whether he thought Australia’s education system was in “crisis”.
“I don’t think it’s a crisis,” Mr Pyne responded.
“I think we’ve got policies to try and address issues around earning and learning and unemployment and drugs, of course. But I wouldn’t say that’s a full-blown crisis, no.”
Barry noted that many people in the audience were young and asked them if they thought there education system was in crisis.
Mr Pyne seemed unfazed when most of them yelled “yes,” saying that was typical of an ABC audience.
"I'm not going to get into an argument with the audience," he joked.
The government’s plan to deregulate university fees from 2016 has sparked widespread criticism and numerous student demonstrations since it were announced in the budget.
During Q&A, Mr Pyne said Australia’s student-loan system was one of the most generous in the world but an a teacher in the audience took issue with that, saying the threat of huge debt was forcing many of her students to miss out on university.
"My year 12 students this year, because of the huge rise in tertiary education fees, are making different choices now,” she said.
“They come from families where to take on a HECS debt of that size is something the family and the student do not feel comfortable about."
