France on Friday promised to offer places for all autistic children in nursery schools as it unveiled a €340m (£297m) overhaul of its approach to the disorder, which experts and the United Nations denounce as woefully retrograde.

While France is widely lauded for its public health care system, it has been accused of being up to “50 years” behind the rest of the world on detecting autism, and providing basic education and therapy for those with the condition.

The UN recently slammed the country for “widespread violation” of its citizens’ rights over its approach, and France has repeatedly had to pay damages to families for the inadequate care of autistic children in recent years.

Prime minister Edouard Philippe promised to “make up for lost time” as he unveiled the five-year strategy whose aim was to make the life of autistic children and adults alike “as normal as possible”.

A 2005 law guarantees every child the right to education in a mainstream school, but the Council of Europe has condemned France for not respecting it.

Only around 20 per cent of children with autism go to school compared to 70 per cent in Britain.

Mr Philippe pledged that all autistic children born this year would by 2021 be admitted to nursery school, which his government has made compulsory.