Northern Territory students' literacy and numeracy skills are on the up, the latest NAPLAN results show, but still lag behind the rest of the nation.
Northern Territory Education Minister Eva Lawler says the 2016 results indicate improvements for younger children, but more needs to be done to lift outcomes for those students in remote regions.
Overall the Territory has improved, but still lags well behind the rest of the nation.
Year 3 Territory students are leading the way with advancements in reading, spelling, grammar and punctuation, Ms Lawler says.
It's a testament to the work being done by the Families as First Teachers program which was initiated by the previous Labor government, she said.
"Making children education-ready from their first day of school is critical to boosting education outcomes," Ms Lawler said.
"That's why we intend to expand the Families as First Teachers program to 33 remote and very remote communities by the end of next year."
Ms Lawler said in addition to the improvements at Year 3 level, Year 5 students were also showing sustained improvements in numeracy.
"While the results indicate non-Indigenous students in urban centres are performing at or above national minimum standard, the same is not the case in the bush where we still have a lot of work to do," she said.
"Remote and very remote students, particularly at Year 9 level, continue to lag behind their counterparts elsewhere in the Australia."
Ms Lawler said this reflects the higher levels of socio-economic disadvantage in the Territory, which requires greater levels of funding.
"I would like Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham to visit the Territory so he can see firsthand the realities of education in our remote schools," she said.
"I think this is the only way he can come to appreciate why cutting education funding, as he is threatening, is not viable and can only harm the future of Territory children."
The NT government has committed to additional funding of $31 million from January 1 next year, including $20 million a year for school budgets, $8 million for early intervention, disability and behaviour programs.
