Participants of the discussion were welcomed by Raimundas Paliukas, Chair of the Seimas Committee on Education, Science and Culture. The Chair stressed that "the choice of profession is one of the most complex and responsible decisions that a person has to take in his life. It is believed that the right choice of a profession means finding one's place in life. This is a purposeful decision that may not be based on myths or stereotypes, parents' decision, friends' influence or, what is even worse, left to chance or fortune. Vocational guidance is an important element of education and employment policy, and thus a task is set before all of us to find ways to help a person to consciously choose education and employment alternatives, create conditions for him to acquire career competencies and to actively engage in creating his career."
Participants were also welcomed by Philippe Jeantaud, French Ambassador to Lithuania, who expressed his satisfaction over the cooperation between the Embassy and the Seimas Committee and introduced Jean-Pierre Bellier, Inspector General of National Education, France, in charge of vocational guidance and prevention of dropouts. The guest delivered a presentation on the organisation of career guidance in his country.
The Inspector gave an overview of the existing stereotypes, changing environment and key competencies to be developed by vocational guidance. Mr Bellier emphasised that nowadays the "only choice" approach was no longer relevant since young people were provided ample opportunities. Vocational guidance is a continuous process that we currently face at every step of life. Young people can make choices, trip up, change direction and try again. It is therefore important to ensure that the competencies acquired this way are adequately valued.
Genoveita Krasauskienė, Vice-Minister of Education and Science, presented the policy of vocational guidance in Lithuania. Jurgita Petrauskienė, Director of the Research and Higher Education Monitoring and Analysis Centre, delivered a presentation on the results of the monitoring of university graduates' employment situation. Gitana Viganauskienė, Deputy Director of the Lithuanian Centre of Non-formal Youth Education, emphasised the significance of vocational guidance in the context of non-formal education. Birutė Pociūtė, Assoc. Professor, Faculty of Philosophy, Vilnius University, and lector Ieva Urbanavičiūtė analysed the challenges and the potential of career guidance within the higher education system. Gintaras Vilda, representative of the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists, looked into vocational guidance from business perspective. Aurelija Naseckaitė, Head of Studies Information Division, Marketing and Communications Department of Kaunas University of Technology, while presenting the project titled Mission: Career, its idea, implementation and results, shared her vocational activation experience.
