In 2011, a competition was organised for the second time and attracted 60 participants. VET providers were invited to propose examples of good practice under headings such as qualification of vocational teachers, training methods and tools, foreign language learning in VET, internationalisation of VET, cooperation between VET institutions and creativity in VET.
The Šiauliai VET Centre (Šiaulių profesinio rengimo centras) won the 2011 contest thanks to its initiative to promote VET and improve the image of VET. The idea of the Šiauliai VET Centre was to get the local community involved in setting national country records in categories such as the longest and heaviest cake (length 86.34 m, weight 211.7 kg), the heaviest and highest autumn tree (weight 219 kg, height 178 cm) and the biggest Easter bunny (weight 310 kg, height 213 cm). As part of these record-setting attempts, VET teachers helped students to find ways of accomplishing the tasks involved and the social partners were asked to sponsor the initiatives. The records set and the VET school were widely publicised in the media.
Other initiatives awarded diplomas were: weaving lessons with the folk master (Telšiai Regional VET Centre), a Christmas charity action (Vilnius Vocational School of Builders), skills learning in real work environments (Vilnius Žirmūnai Labour Market Training Centre) and application of the Joomla content management system in VET (Kupiškis Technological and Business School). Special prizes were awarded to teachers who had presented the most original and picturesque examples of good practice.
The winners were announced during the conference on ‘Vocational education and training: the future and the success’ held on 1 December 2011. The conference was attended by more than 100 participants. Part of the conference was dedicated to future VET policy directions. The Director of Vocational Education and Training of the Ministry of Education and Science, Mr Romualdas Pusvaskis, presented the Bruges Communiqué on enhanced European Cooperation in VET, which defines common objectives for 2020, and a VET action plan for the coming years. The conference discussed the Bruges Communiqué’s short-term deliverables and developments and remaining challenges in Lithuanian VET. There were presentations on the possibilities of the Lifelong learning programme for VET providers and on the most recent call for proposals, and the participants discussed the latest results of the Eurobarometer survey on ‘Attitudes towards vocational education and training’. The second part of the conference included a presentation on employers’ expectations of VET graduates and a practical workshop on ways of promoting creativity in vocational education and training.