Significant disruption to school transport is expected on Wednesday as Unite the Union begins a 48-hour strike.
Almost 800 school support staff – the majority transport workers – are walking out as part of an ongoing dispute over a pay and grading review.
On Thursday school staff from Unison, GMB and Nipsa will join the strike.
Unions said it would be one of the biggest strikes among non-teaching unions in years.
School cooks, cleaners, bus drivers and clerical staff are also due to take part in industrial action.
The strike began at 00:01 GMT on Wednesday and is due to run until midnight on Thursday.
At least four special schools are closed to pupils as a result of the strike action.
Glenveagh, Mitchell House, Park and Oakwood schools in Belfast all said they were closed to pupils on both Wednesday and Thursday, while Rossmar School in Limavady said its primary department was open on Wednesday while its secondary department was closed to pupils.
The school added that both departments would be closed to pupils on Thursday.
Unite the Union members at Glenveagh School in south Belfast began strike action on Wednesday morning.
Speaking from the picket to BBC News NI, classroom assistant Victoria Brown said she would rather not be on strike but had no choice.
“I feel for the parents knowing that it’s going to be a big disruption because a lot of the children are very routine-based and expect to be coming to school today,” she said.
“I understand parents are going to be having it tough but we are having it tough as well.”
Meanwhile, in east Belfast, Unite the Union members were also picketing outside Mitchell House School.
Among them were classroom assistants Michelle Stewart and Diana Fox.
Ms Fox told BBC News NI: “We’re carers and it’s doesn’t pay to be a carer anymore. I worry about what’s going to happen to these children in the future.”
Unison and GMB members employed by the Education Authority (EA) will walk out for the full day on Thursday, while Nipsa members will strike for two hours after the start of their shifts.
Unite said responsibility for the industrial action lies with the Department of Education (DE) for what it described as “obstructive behaviour”.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said it was unacceptable that the DE continued “to renege on the implementation of a pay and grading review that has been negotiated by the Education Authority with Unite”.
“As a matter of urgency, the Education Authority must secure the necessary funding to avoid further escalation of strike action in Northern Ireland’s education sector,” she added.
The Education Authority said steps had been taken to identify the potential impact of the action on schools and services.
“We are taking steps to mitigate the impact of the action; however, due to the large number of staff anticipated to be involved in the planned action, we are expecting significant disruption,” a spokesperson said.
- Education staff strike to cause ‘severe disruption’
Last week the DE said it was continuing to engage with the EA on the content of the pay and grading business case to “ensure the proposals are fully justified and affordable”.
A spokesperson added that the proposal put forward by the EA and trade unions has a significant cost associated with it.
The initial annual implementation cost for the EA would be £39m, with the subsequent recurring cost rising to £71m after three years, the department said.
“This would be in addition to any National Joint Council pay rise each year.
“However, there is currently no budget available to implement this without further funding being made available.”
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