Skip to main content
European Commission logo

Eurydice

EACEA National Policies Platform:Eurydice
Organisational variations and alternative structures in primary education

France

5.Primary education

5.4Organisational variations and alternative structures in primary education

Last update: 27 November 2023

As for pre-primary education, the organisation of elementary teaching raises specific issues in rural areas. Several types of intermunicipal school groups are set up:

  • the dispersed school group: several teaching levels spread throughout the relevant municipalies' schools;
  • the concentrated school group: all the schools of several municipalities are grouped together into the school of a municipality chosen for the quality of its facilities, the surrounding population and location.

Moreover the Centre national d'enseignement à distance (CNED - distance education centre) dispenses education using modern communication technology, in particular aimed at a population that cannot be taught in conventional schools.