This article analyses the recently promulgated 5.154/04 decree on professional education, taking into account the structural limitations imposed by capitalism on education, manifested in the structural dualism of the school system. From there on, the article brings back the idea of polytechnic education as (still) a new perspective for the theoretical, political and pedagogical debate on professional education.
polytechnic education; professional education reform; Brazilian legislation on education; polytechnic thinking; technological education