Exaggerated though this statement was, in relation to secondary and advanced education, it was proximately true of the elementary schools.

The revolutionists had merely traced the outlines of a scheme: it remained for the First Consul to fill in the details, or to leave it blank.
The result can scarcely be cited as a proof of his educational zeal.
Elementary schools were left to the control and supervision of the communes and of the _sous-prefets_, and naturally made little advance amidst an apathetic population and under officials who cared not to press on an expensive enterprise.

The law of April 30th, 1802, however, aimed at improving the secondary education, which the Convention had attempted to give in its _ecoles centrales_.

These were now reconstituted either as _ecoles secondaires_ or as _lycees_.

The former were local or even private institutions intended for the most promising pupils of the commune or group of communes; while the _lycees_, far fewer in number, were controlled directly by the Government.