Thousands of children could be barred from lessons for several days in a wave of strikes threatened this summer.

Teaching assistants and school support staff will be balloted on strike action along with nearly 1 million other public sector workers next month over below-inflation pay deals.

Some 200,000 classroom helpers and other school staff could join Unison, Britain’s largest public sector union, on picket lines as early as July forcing hundreds of schools to close for at least two days and then follow with more action of two days or more. The threat of industrial action comes just one month after teachers went on strike over pay increases and a week before the National Union of Teachers enter talks over further walk outs.

Teaching assistants accuse the Government of using them as “teachers on the cheap” and say they are expected to do the job of teachers on a fraction of the wage. Salaries for classroom helpers start at just £15,000 compared to £20,133 for teachers.

If public sector workers vote to strike, the action may be delayed until September causing maximum disruption at the start of the new school year and could coincide with further NUT action.

Britain’s 500,000 teaching assistants and school support staff, who now outnumber teachers, were offered a pay increase of 2.45 per cent – the same as that offered to teachers that sparked a national strike by the NUT last month – but their union has rejected the package.

The NUT's executive is to meet next week to decide whether to recommend further strikes, but in March the membership gave its leaders a mandate for a "rolling and escalating programme of industrial action including strike action".

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