A Darwin school bus credited with boosting class attendance by 20 per cent for children from Aboriginal town camps faces an uncertain future as the charity that runs it struggles to secure funding for the next term.

Key points: School bus service credited with boosting school attendance for children from town camps to 80pc

School bus service credited with boosting school attendance for children from town camps to 80pc Charity-run bus serves six town camps

Charity-run bus serves six town camps NT Government open to considering funding request

By 7:30am on a school day, eight-year-old William Farmer has showered, eaten breakfast, brushed his teeth, packed his lunch and combed a suave hairstyle into place before waiting for the school bus in the community of Kulaluk.

Regular school buses do not come into the Aboriginal community and children face a range of hurdles getting to school.

Charity Save the Children started a school attendance program five years ago to address those issues by starting a bus service in six town camps: Knuckey Lagoon, Minmarama Park, Bagot, Kulaluk, One Mile Dam and 15 Mile.

In addition to picking up children and driving them to school, volunteers help parents with any issues at home that could be hindering their children's ability to go to school.

"There's a lot of kids' families that don't have vehicles," said Dallas Mummery who drives one of the buses.

"There's sometimes a lot of issues happening in the community."

She said the turnaround had been remarkable.

Pupil attendance now at 80pc

Since the program has been operating school attendance among Aboriginal children from the communities has risen to 80 per cent and has become a point of pride for the community.

"If you're here in the morning and see 10, 11 kids in uniform waiting for the bus that makes us proud that they're getting an education," said Kulaluk resident Helen Secretary.

However the privately-funded service's future is uncertain after funding dried up.

Save the Children has applied for funding under the new Indigenous Advancement Strategy but they will not hear back until after the July 2 election – as no funding applications can be processed during the current caretaker mode.

Families with children at One Mile Dam want the bus service to continue. ( ABC News: Nadia Daly )

Meanwhile the charity is pushing federal and Territory governments for short-term funding to enable them to continue until then but has so far has been unsuccessful.

Save the Children worker Travis Borsi visited Kulaluk the week before the school half-term holiday.

"We'd hate for this to be the last school run we do in all these communities," he said.

"We're sort of struggling to figure out where the next year, or years [funding] is going to come from."

In a statement, a spokesman for Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion said: "While the Minister cannot make a new funding decision during the caretaker period, it was made clear to the organisation that it can apply for funding at any time, including during the caretaker period, and its application would be considered after the election."

He noted the organisation received $1.2 million for its other programs in the NT from 2014/15 to 2017/18.

Northern Territory Education Minister Peter Chandler criticised remote school attendance programs for failing to deliver value for money and said he was open to considering Save the Children's funding request.

Kulaluk resident Helen Secretary said she could not understand why neither government had stepped in to help what appears to be a successful program.

"[The Government's] made so many promises about closing the gap and helping Indigenous communities and their children about education and health that they should assist," she said.