We would like to be paid 52 weeks a year, like teachers and nursery nurses

Julie Thompson, classroom assistant and union rep

The protest came as the government plans to increase the role of classroom assistants in schools.

These support workers are seen by the government as crucial to the next stage of school reforms.

The campaigners - members of public service union Unison - waved placards saying "Another Xmas without pay", "Eight Weeks Without Pay, No Way" and "Justice for Term-Time Workers" and demanded to know what she was going to do to improve their pay.

But Ms Morris refused to take a hand in their campaign for fairer pay.

"I think it's right that you negotiate with local authorities, you have to speak to local authorities," she told the demonstrators.

"There's already more money in education than ever before. It is right that you carry on these negotiations," she said.

On call system

The union wants the government to consider an agreement which was reached in Northern Ireland, where support staff were paid 52 weeks a year full salary if they agreed to be on call during the holidays.

They received half, or "retainer", pay outside term-time if they were unavailable for work.

Classroom assistants want to be paid all year round

Julie Thompson, an assistant at Longley Special School, Huddersfield, and chief union representative for the area, said Nottinghamshire County Council was the only local education authority in England to pay school support staff all year round.

Other authorities paid assistants only for the work they did during term-time - although teachers and nursery nurses were paid all year-round.

Ms Thompson said classroom assistants - most of them women with children - earned an average of �125 a week during term-time.

But they were not allowed to claim jobseeker's allowance during the school holidays, although they were effectively unemployed.

More assistants

"Estelle Morris plans to put more classroom assistants in front of the classroom," she said.

"We would like to say to her that we are already doing that but we are not being paid adequately.

I see an increasingly important role for classroom assistants

Estelle Morris

"We would like to be paid 52 weeks a year, like teachers and nursery nurses."

Such a move would also improve assistants' pensions, Ms Thompson added.

If the government had not addressed the matter by the autumn, she would expect to see ballots for industrial action.

"We are not going to use scare tactics but we've waited long enough," she said.

"We think we've given them enough time to sit up and take notice and it's not going to cost them millions and millions and millions."

'New role'

In her speech to delegates, Ms Morris stressed the importance of classroom assistants to schools.

"They are going to play a new role and it is our responsibility to look at the way they are trained," she said.

But it would be wrong for her to intervene over wages and conditions, she added.

"I very much hope the problem can be resolved because I see an increasingly important role for classroom assistants."