A gap in the schooling system could be letting troubled kids down.

The Education Ministry's slammed the Principals Federation - for urging its members not to enrol violent kids.

It disobeys a legal requirement which force school boards to take on direct enrolments from the Government.

President Perry Rush says conventional high schools have pathways for struggling youth - but other levels don't.

"There needs to be an alternative for primary and intermediate aged students to receive this therapeutic support, and once they are helped, then be reintegrated into schools."

He says teachers in many traditional schools don't have the right resources.

"The Ministry has made a mistake in thinking we want to exclude complex young people from schooling, and that's the opposite of what we want. We want these kids to get help."

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