NGO Involvement in education policy implementation: exploring policymakers’ voices

ABSTRACT Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are becoming increasingly important participants in educational programmes and implementing education policy. This study explores governmental policymakers’ perceptions and reactions to NGO involvement in the implementation of education policy. We applied a qualitative research method, conducting in-depth interviews with ten senior policymakers in Israel's Ministry of Education. We utilised an inductive process of condensing, encoding, categorising, and theorising to analyze the data. Our findings yielded three major themes: (a) intersectoral partnership policies in education and mechanisms for their implementation, (b) budgeting and engagement policies that reexamine mutual responsibility models in education, and (c) the benefits of the intersectoral partnership in advancing education goals. This study expands the knowledge of policymakers’ attempts to lead change, from methods and strategies of centralised and bureaucratic governance through community networks that constitute an intermediate path to realising social and educational goals in the age of privatisation and commercialisation in education.