Mulla Nasrudin stood up in the market place and started to address the throng. “O people! Do you want knowledge without difficulties, truth without falsehood, attainment without effort, progress without sacrifice?” Very soon a large crowd gathered, everyone shouting: “Yes, yes!” “Excellent!” said the Mulla. “I only wanted to know. You may rely upon me to tell you all about it if I discover any such thing.”
~ “The Pleasantries of the Incredible Mulla Nasrudin” by Idries Shah

Sometimes when I think about Indonesian schools and their attempts at improvements, I am reminded of this story. Too often schools want quick ready made solutions to launch them into the world. Often also they think that to become a Sekolah Bertaraf Internasional (SBI) all you need to do is shop.

And all too often, there will be snake oil peddlers promising them this! Today, the snake oil that is being peddled to Indonesian schools include “Singapore education” or “Singapore syllabus”, “ICT”, “English language” and “international examinations”. Indonesians will do well to heed Mulla Nasrudin.