The boundaries of care: education policy interventions for vulnerable children

Abstract

This chapter interrogates a growing vision of schools as sites of care and support for vulnerable children, especially in the context of HIV/AIDS. The chapter is based on two research activities: a desk review of projects working in the area of schools in the context of HIV/AIDS and poverty; and documentation of a particular project in the Free State province of South Africa. The author also considers the South African policy framework for schools and vulnerable children. The chapter begins by sketching out some of the major education policies pertaining to vulnerable children, especially in the context of HIV and AIDS. It then offers three cautionary notes in relation to the thrust of these policies and those programmes attempting to implement them. The first is a consideration of the context of implementation - the schooling system. The second is the resourcing of these policies. The third considers policy visions of schools and teachers. How schools and teachers are conceptualised both in policies and programmes is problematised. The misalignment between the policies around schools and vulnerable children, the resourcing of these policies and their contexts of implementation as well as the implications for thinking about expanded roles for schools and teachers are brought into relief.