Polytechnic education is grounded in the educational work of Nadiezka Krupskaia during the decade of the twenties in the twenty-century. The roots are, however, to be search for in the socio-economic writings of Karl Marx. Essentially in accordance the so-called polytechnics school was expected to be closely link to the socio-economic and more specific to the technological development of society. Enactment of a polytechnic education was to be based on a set of concept and key principles. These principles should not be confined to practical subjects but also influence the overall structure of the curriculum and cross-subject school activity.

With a historical perspective this paper presents conceptual grounds and analyses key principles of polytechnic education. The intention is to stimulate discussions of potential implications of polytechnic education for VET. More specific the paper intends to encourage discussion about the relationship between general/compulsory education and VET in times when we need to find answers to problems such as motivation and drop-outs in our vocational programs.