NT disadvantage behind dismal NAPLAN stats

The high rates of indigenous school children living in remote areas have contributed to the Northern Territory's disappointing NAPLAN results, its government says.

The NT has improved primary reading and numeracy standards since 2008, but continues to lag significantly behind the rest of the country in all domains and years.

Half of Year 9 students didn't meet the national minimum standard for writing, while only 62 per cent of Year 5 students reached the overall benchmark.

Education Minister Eva Lawler says it reflects the higher levels of socio-economic disadvantage in the Territory, especially in remote Aboriginal communities where many kids have English as a second language and struggle with low school attendance.

She's calling on Canberra to commit more cash to help close the gap between indigenous students in the bush and their non-indigenous Australian peers.

In January the Gunner Labor government committed $31 million in extra funding for additional ESL teachers, but Ms Lawler concedes the problem won't be fixed overnight.

She says education impacts on key Closing the Gap health and employment outcomes, and wants the commonwealth to chip in to address a funding shortfall.

"With Gonski 2.0, the Northern Territory over 10 years will lose 150 million of funding," Ms Lawler said.

"I have been calling on the federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham to come to the Territory to have a good look at how different we are, where education delivery is more expensive and complex."