It is essential to know the laws and policies that affect learners and specifically vulnerable learners. When conducting a policy audit it is valuable to keep an open mind about where relevant policy exists.

Relevant policy may be found in international and regional conventions and treaties, country-level legislation, regulations to legislation, consultative papers, directives and circulars or in a code of practice.

Policy will also be at different levels of governance: international, national, sub-national and district or school level.

Policy relevant to care and support for learning and teaching may be found in a range of existing education policy documents, such as policies about inclusive education or children with special needs, school nutrition, school health services, support to orphans and / or vulnerable learners, learners with disabilities, and school HIV and AIDS policy.

Policies in other sectors may also be directly relevant to vulnerable learners. National Frameworks for

Orphans and Vulnerable Children often provide an overview of the range of support available to such learners. For example, in Botswana, the Ministry of Local Government provides food baskets to vulnerable households. Policies regarding social security and child protection are directly relevant to mainstreaming care and support.

The text in the following box indicates policies at a national, sub-national and district or school level that may be relevant to the policy audit. This is not an exhaustive list and it is important to develop a similar list that is adapted to your environment. However, in general, it is useful to consider three broad categories of MoE policy:

1. policies that help learners access school, for example admissions policies, school fee exemption policies, policies on bursaries for OVC;

2. policies that help learners stay in school, for example policies on teenage pregnancy, school nutrition and health;

3. policies that help learners perform to the best their ability, for example policies on special needs education or inclusive education, policies to make curriculum accessible to all.