Postsecondary Education; *School Business Relationship; *Vocational Education IDENTIFIERS *France

This article focuses on the Rhone-Alpes region's policy for the development of alternating training based on cooperation between the occupational branches and the national educational system. It discusses the following: France's 1987 law on apprenticeship that provided an opportunity for its emergence; cooperative apprenticeship as the culmination of every educational path; and 1992-93 results that indicate that the training flow from cooperative apprenticeship remained modest. The article provides explanations for this modest development, the most important of which is the ambiguity of the cooperation agreement among the three main partners: Regional Council, occupational branches, and national educational system. Four kinds of alternating units that emerged from initiatives are described: the occupational branches, large companies ' initiatives for incorporating high quality apprenticeship in their human relations management policies, predominance of training centers, and mobilization of local activity sectors and institutions. Forms of organization and regulation necessary to transition from experimentation to innovation are outiined. (YLB) *************::**A:,*********"A*****************************A:,A * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * from the original document. OUOi iI E 1"1-1)7'-eljUVATICWeureifensfRename an imprm m r