It is possible to view the separation between secondary schooling and professional education as a movement that, once more, aims at keeping away from the State Universities the increasingly greater number of students that complete secondary education. With the help of a survey of the school trajectory of students that attended technical post-secondary courses in the Federal technical schools and in the National Service of Industrial Learning (SENAI) of Rio de Janeiro in the years 1999/2000, we analyse here the non-manifest character of the guidelines for professional education expressed in the Federal Law 2208/97. Once again, this document reflects the Government's attempt to reduce the number of places in State Universities. The experience of the students attending the technical post-secondary courses that were being ministered in the federal technical schools and at the SENAI in the city of Rio de Janeiro uninterruptedly during the late years of the 20th century can help us to understand the intentions behind the separation of secondary education from technical-level professional education and the possible repercussions of this separation for a large number of students now leaving secondary school.
professional education; technical post-secondary courses; educational policies
