Unless we suffer from blindness we all have vision, but this was not to be confused with having ‘a vision’ which is what holy men, schizophrenics and business owners usually have a lots of.  Having ‘a vision’ is what usually separates the truly holy, the mentally ill and the rich from the rest of us. 

 

Historically having ‘a vision’ was almost always followed by having a mission and lots of bloodshed. Mose had the vision of the burning bush and off the Israelites went on a mission to find the promised land, and they slaughtered all who stood in their way.  Joan of Arc had a vision and off she went on mission to slaughter the English, which she did quite successfully before she came to her fiery end.  

 

In those days  the rich were too grand to have ‘a vision’ ( they restricted themselves to dreams)  and so it fell to  their prophets  to have the visions as in the case of Moses, or to their peasants as in the case of Joan of Arc. However with the coming of professional management, owners of companies became redundant in the work place and in a classic reworking of the King’s new clothes, the ability to have ‘a vision’ was bestowed upon them. Having ‘a vision’ was what they were fobbed off with. Not only did it satisfy their egos but it was also good for the company’s image and customer relations. Having a ‘vision’ and a ‘mission’ presupposes that the company is there for more than just making profits. It gives the company and the owners a holy and altruistic image. Having a mission statement that says “Our mission is make as much profit as possible out of everyone and become filthy rich”. Might be accurate but it would not be acceptable to the marketing department.

 

Now even Schools have acquired ‘visions’ and ‘missions’. In many schools ‘Mission  and vision statements’  have replaced mottos.  In the old days, when having visions was restricted to the mentally ill, the prophet or the peasant, and missions were the work of missionaries, schools were far less vague about what they were seeking and far more succinct in their pronouncement of it. In the motto that was always displayed before all the children, students were exhorted to simple but profound responses.

 

My old school, La Martinere  exhorted me and all the pupils to   ‘Labour and Constant effort’. The far more militaristic Lawrence School, Sanawar exhorted it’s trainee officers and servants of the British Raj  to ‘Never give in’. Delhi Public School’s motto calls for the highly laudable  ‘Service before self’. (There is a problem here since it doesn’t say who exactly the DPS children should become the selfless servants of. - I can only hope that it is ex-students of La Martinere since we have to work so long and hard).

 

In the days before 90%+ college admissions, marketing the school was much simpler and schools each had their own distinct character. As our private schools become more and more money making exam factories, and parents continue to push their children into becoming examination fodder, we can do away with all these meaningless ‘vision’ and ‘mission’ statements.   We can leave the visions to the mentally ill, the prophets and the peasants, and ‘missions’ to the missionaries. All schools need is one simple motto: ‘Get good exam results’.