ACT policy on class disruption 'simplistic' but has a point - Education Minister Erica Stanford

The education minister has offered tentative support for ACT's plan allowing teachers to physically force students from classrooms, saying it is heading in the right direction.

ACT wants to give teachers the legal power to use reasonable force to remove seriously or persistently disruptive students.

Education spokesperson Paul Henry said it would regain order over "little shits" in the classroom.

Erica Stanford told Midday Report ACT had picked up on something that was a known problem.

"They do have a point... that it has become very unclear through the legislation and the guidance and the training about what teachers can and can't do in a classroom.

"I would argue that their approach is probably a little bit overly simplistic, but heading in the right direction."

The law already allowed for teachers to remove children from classrooms, Stanford said.

"The training that I've identified that they get is woeful and the guidance is poor, so there's a huge grey area about what they can and can't do.

"So while they have the legal ability, they're not using it."

The coalition was looking at improving that training and guidance, she said.

"There's a huge bureaucracy around it, you've got to fill in a million pieces of paperwork, and then [it's] just not clear on the situations where they can and can't do things."

Labour education spokesperson Ginny Andersen said ACT's policy would make classrooms less safe.

Post Primary Teachers' Association president Chris Abercrombie said the proposal would do nothing to support students or teachers, and he could not see the problem ACT was trying to solve.