Training in private companies, professional training in schools and work-linked training have all been popular at one time or another before all being combined today. Far from responding to teaching requirements, this evolution is mainly political, as shown by the reading grid shown here to account for the changes observed in the orientation of education policies from the 1950s to the 1990s. Integrating professional training into the education system in the 1950s meant acquiring a citizen culture as well as learning a profession. Four decades later, the re-establishment of apprenticeship represents a successful way of searching for efficiency when adjusting to the movements of economy and employment.