diff --git a/docs/config_reference.rst b/docs/config_reference.rst
index 54ea1bcddf..cda52f4f4d 100644
--- a/docs/config_reference.rst
+++ b/docs/config_reference.rst
@@ -57,13 +57,6 @@ It consists of the following properties:
    A list of `logging configuration objects <#logging-configuration>`__.
 
 
-.. py:attribute:: .schedulers
-
-   :required: No
-
-   A list of `scheduler configuration objects <#scheduler-configuration>`__.
-
-
 .. py:attribute:: .modes
 
    :required: No
@@ -77,6 +70,12 @@ It consists of the following properties:
    A list of `general configuration objects <#general-configuration>`__.
 
 
+.. warning::
+   .. versionchanged:: 4.0.0
+      The ``schedulers`` section is removed.
+      Scheduler options should be set per partition using the ``sched_options`` attribute.
+
+
 System Configuration
 --------------------
 
@@ -205,6 +204,18 @@ System Configuration
    This list must have at least one element.
 
 
+.. js:attribute:: .systems[].sched_options
+
+   :required: No
+   :default: ``{}``
+
+   Scheduler options for the local scheduler that is associated with the ReFrame's execution context.
+   To understand the difference between the different execution contexts, please refer to ":ref:`execution-contexts`"
+   For the available scheduler options, see the :obj:`sched_options` in the partition configuration below.
+
+   .. versionadded:: 4.0.0
+
+
 ------------------------------
 System Partition Configuration
 ------------------------------
@@ -294,6 +305,71 @@ System Partition Configuration
       the :py:attr:`extra_resources` will be simply ignored in this case and the scheduler backend will interpret the different test fields in the appropriate way.
 
 
+.. js:attribute:: .systems[].partitions[].sched_options
+
+   :required: No
+   :default: ``{}``
+
+   Scheduler-specific options for this partition.
+   See below for the available options.
+
+   .. versionadded:: 4.0.0
+
+
+.. js:attribute:: .systems[].partitions[].sched_options.ignore_reqnodenotavail
+
+   :required: No
+   :default: ``false``
+
+   Ignore the ``ReqNodeNotAvail`` Slurm state.
+
+   If a job associated to a test is in pending state with the Slurm reason ``ReqNodeNotAvail`` and a list of unavailable nodes is also specified, ReFrame will check the status of the nodes and, if all of them are indeed down, it will cancel the job.
+   Sometimes, however, when Slurm's backfill algorithm takes too long to compute, Slurm will set the pending reason to ``ReqNodeNotAvail`` and mark all system nodes as unavailable, causing ReFrame to kill the job.
+   In such cases, you may set this parameter to ``true`` to avoid this.
+
+   This option is relevant for the Slurm backends only.
+
+.. js:attribute:: .systems[].partitions[].sched_options.job_submit_timeout
+
+   :required: No
+   :default: ``60``
+
+   Timeout in seconds for the job submission command.
+
+   If timeout is reached, the test issuing that command will be marked as a failure.
+
+
+.. js:attribute:: .systems[].partitions[].sched_options.resubmit_on_errors
+
+   :required: No
+   :default: ``[]``
+
+   If any of the listed errors occur, try to resubmit the job after some seconds.
+
+   As an example, you could have ReFrame trying to resubmit a job in case that the maximum submission limit per user is reached by setting this field to ``["QOSMaxSubmitJobPerUserLimit"]``.
+   You can ignore multiple errors at the same time if you add more error strings in the list.
+
+   This option is relevant for the Slurm backends only.
+
+   .. versionadded:: 3.4.1
+
+   .. warning::
+      Job submission is a synchronous operation in ReFrame.
+      If this option is set, ReFrame's execution will block until the error conditions specified in this list are resolved.
+      No other test would be able to proceed.
+
+
+.. js:attribute:: .systems[].partitions[].sched_options.use_nodes_option
+
+   :required: No
+   :default: ``false``
+
+   Always emit the ``--nodes`` Slurm option in the preamble of the job script.
+   This option is relevant to Slurm backends only.
+
+   This option is relevant for the Slurm backends only.
+
+
 .. js:attribute:: .systems[].partitions[].launcher
 
    :required: Yes
@@ -1287,82 +1363,6 @@ An example configuration of this handler for performance logging is shown here:
 This handler transmits the whole log record, meaning that all the information will be available and indexable at the remote end.
 
 
-Scheduler Configuration
------------------------
-
-A scheduler configuration object contains configuration options specific to the scheduler's behavior.
-
-
-------------------------
-Common scheduler options
-------------------------
-
-
-.. js:attribute:: .schedulers[].name
-
-   :required: Yes
-
-   The name of the scheduler that these options refer to.
-   It can be any of the supported job scheduler `backends <#.systems[].partitions[].scheduler>`__.
-
-
-.. js:attribute:: .schedulers[].job_submit_timeout
-
-   :required: No
-   :default: 60
-
-   Timeout in seconds for the job submission command.
-   If timeout is reached, the regression test issuing that command will be marked as a failure.
-
-
-.. js:attribute:: .schedulers[].target_systems
-
-   :required: No
-   :default: ``["*"]``
-
-   A list of systems or system/partitions combinations that this scheduler configuration is valid for.
-   For a detailed description of this property, you may refer `here <#.environments[].target_systems>`__.
-
-.. js:attribute:: .schedulers[].use_nodes_option
-
-   :required: No
-   :default: ``false``
-
-   Always emit the ``--nodes`` Slurm option in the preamble of the job script.
-   This option is relevant to Slurm backends only.
-
-
-.. js:attribute:: .schedulers[].ignore_reqnodenotavail
-
-   :required: No
-   :default: ``false``
-
-   This option is relevant to the Slurm backends only.
-
-   If a job associated to a test is in pending state with the Slurm reason ``ReqNodeNotAvail`` and a list of unavailable nodes is also specified, ReFrame will check the status of the nodes and, if all of them are indeed down, it will cancel the job.
-   Sometimes, however, when Slurm's backfill algorithm takes too long to compute, Slurm will set the pending reason to ``ReqNodeNotAvail`` and mark all system nodes as unavailable, causing ReFrame to kill the job.
-   In such cases, you may set this parameter to ``true`` to avoid this.
-
-
-.. js:attribute:: .schedulers[].resubmit_on_errors
-
-   :required: No
-   :default: ``[]``
-
-   This option is relevant to the Slurm backends only.
-
-   If any of the listed errors occur, ReFrame will try to resubmit the job after some seconds.
-   As an example, you could have ReFrame trying to resubmit a job in case that the maximum submission limit per user is reached by setting this field to ``["QOSMaxSubmitJobPerUserLimit"]``.
-   You can ignore multiple errors at the same time if you add more error strings in the list.
-
-   .. versionadded:: 3.4.1
-
-   .. warning::
-      Job submission is a synchronous operation in ReFrame.
-      If this option is set, ReFrame's execution will block until the error conditions specified in this list are resolved.
-      No other test would be able to proceed.
-
-
 Execution Mode Configuration
 ----------------------------
 
diff --git a/docs/configure.rst b/docs/configure.rst
index 674468ac53..26a0a7806d 100644
--- a/docs/configure.rst
+++ b/docs/configure.rst
@@ -216,12 +216,10 @@ However, there are several options that can go into this section, but the reader
 Other configuration options
 ---------------------------
 
-There are finally two more optional configuration sections that are not discussed here:
-
-1. The ``schedulers`` section holds configuration variables specific to the different scheduler backends and
-2. the ``modes`` section defines different execution modes for the framework.
-   Execution modes are discussed in the :doc:`pipeline` page.
+There is finally one additional optional configuration section that is not discussed here:
 
+The ``modes`` section defines different execution modes for the framework.
+Execution modes are discussed in the :doc:`pipeline` page.
 
 
 Building the Final Configuration
diff --git a/docs/pipeline.rst b/docs/pipeline.rst
index 523073ecd2..d090f88aac 100644
--- a/docs/pipeline.rst
+++ b/docs/pipeline.rst
@@ -161,6 +161,8 @@ There are a number of things to notice in this diagram:
    The ``compile`` stage is now also executed asynchronously.
 
 
+.. _execution-contexts:
+
 --------------------------------------
 Where each pipeline stage is executed?
 --------------------------------------
diff --git a/reframe/core/schedulers/__init__.py b/reframe/core/schedulers/__init__.py
index 7423a68736..bdc9470301 100644
--- a/reframe/core/schedulers/__init__.py
+++ b/reframe/core/schedulers/__init__.py
@@ -25,12 +25,45 @@ class JobMeta(RegressionTestMeta, abc.ABCMeta):
     '''Job metaclass.'''
 
 
-class JobScheduler(abc.ABC):
+class JobSchedulerMeta(abc.ABCMeta):
+    '''Metaclass for JobSchedulers.
+
+    The purpose of this metaclass is to intercept the constructor call and
+    consume the `part_name` argument for setting up the configuration prefix
+    without requiring the users to call `super().__init__()` in their
+    constructors. This allows the base class to have the look and feel of a
+    pure interface.
+
+    :meta private:
+
+    '''
+    def __call__(cls, *args, **kwargs):
+        part_name = kwargs.pop('part_name', None)
+        obj = cls.__new__(cls, *args, **kwargs)
+        if part_name:
+            obj._config_prefix = (
+                f'systems/0/paritions/@{part_name}/sched_options'
+            )
+        else:
+            obj._config_prefix = 'systems/0/sched_options'
+
+        obj.__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+        return obj
+
+
+class JobScheduler(abc.ABC, metaclass=JobSchedulerMeta):
     '''Abstract base class for job scheduler backends.
 
     :meta private:
     '''
 
+    def get_option(self, name):
+        '''Get scheduler-specific option.
+
+        :meta private:
+        '''
+        return runtime.runtime().get_option(f'{self._config_prefix}/{name}')
+
     @abc.abstractmethod
     def make_job(self, *args, **kwargs):
         '''Create a new job to be managed by this scheduler.
diff --git a/reframe/core/schedulers/flux.py b/reframe/core/schedulers/flux.py
index 91d987893b..0b961fb465 100644
--- a/reframe/core/schedulers/flux.py
+++ b/reframe/core/schedulers/flux.py
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@
 import os
 import time
 
-import reframe.core.runtime as rt
 from reframe.core.backends import register_scheduler
 from reframe.core.exceptions import JobError
 from reframe.core.schedulers import JobScheduler, Job
@@ -65,9 +64,7 @@ def completed(self):
 class FluxJobScheduler(JobScheduler):
     def __init__(self):
         self._fexecutor = flux.job.FluxExecutor()
-        self._submit_timeout = rt.runtime().get_option(
-            f'schedulers/@{self.registered_name}/job_submit_timeout'
-        )
+        self._submit_timeout = self.get_option('job_submit_timeout')
 
     def emit_preamble(self, job):
         # We don't need to submit with a file, so we don't need a preamble.
diff --git a/reframe/core/schedulers/lsf.py b/reframe/core/schedulers/lsf.py
index 10d42ff93b..2205c48c49 100644
--- a/reframe/core/schedulers/lsf.py
+++ b/reframe/core/schedulers/lsf.py
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@
 import re
 import time
 
-import reframe.core.runtime as rt
 import reframe.utility.osext as osext
 from reframe.core.backends import register_scheduler
 from reframe.core.exceptions import JobSchedulerError
@@ -27,9 +26,7 @@
 class LsfJobScheduler(PbsJobScheduler):
     def __init__(self):
         self._prefix = '#BSUB'
-        self._submit_timeout = rt.runtime().get_option(
-            f'schedulers/@{self.registered_name}/job_submit_timeout'
-        )
+        self._submit_timeout = self.get_option('job_submit_timeout')
 
     def _format_option(self, var, option):
         if var is not None:
diff --git a/reframe/core/schedulers/oar.py b/reframe/core/schedulers/oar.py
index 66e907041b..31feceddb3 100644
--- a/reframe/core/schedulers/oar.py
+++ b/reframe/core/schedulers/oar.py
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@
 import re
 import time
 
-import reframe.core.runtime as rt
 import reframe.utility.osext as osext
 from reframe.core.backends import register_scheduler
 from reframe.core.exceptions import JobError, JobSchedulerError
@@ -60,9 +59,7 @@ def oar_state_pending(state):
 class OarJobScheduler(PbsJobScheduler):
     def __init__(self):
         self._prefix = '#OAR'
-        self._submit_timeout = rt.runtime().get_option(
-            f'schedulers/@{self.registered_name}/job_submit_timeout'
-        )
+        self._submit_timeout = self.get_option('job_submit_timeout')
 
     def emit_preamble(self, job):
         # host is de-facto nodes and core is number of cores requested per node
diff --git a/reframe/core/schedulers/pbs.py b/reframe/core/schedulers/pbs.py
index 9de089468e..2ec2de353f 100644
--- a/reframe/core/schedulers/pbs.py
+++ b/reframe/core/schedulers/pbs.py
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 import re
 import time
 
-import reframe.core.runtime as rt
 import reframe.core.schedulers as sched
 import reframe.utility.osext as osext
 from reframe.core.backends import register_scheduler
@@ -76,9 +75,7 @@ class PbsJobScheduler(sched.JobScheduler):
 
     def __init__(self):
         self._prefix = '#PBS'
-        self._submit_timeout = rt.runtime().get_option(
-            f'schedulers/@{self.registered_name}/job_submit_timeout'
-        )
+        self._submit_timeout = self.get_option('job_submit_timeout')
 
     def _emit_lselect_option(self, job):
         num_tasks_per_node = job.num_tasks_per_node or 1
diff --git a/reframe/core/schedulers/sge.py b/reframe/core/schedulers/sge.py
index f1b9c13e6a..74ae6c5088 100644
--- a/reframe/core/schedulers/sge.py
+++ b/reframe/core/schedulers/sge.py
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@
 import time
 import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
 
-import reframe.core.runtime as rt
 import reframe.utility.osext as osext
 from reframe.core.backends import register_scheduler
 from reframe.core.exceptions import JobSchedulerError
@@ -28,9 +27,7 @@
 class SgeJobScheduler(PbsJobScheduler):
     def __init__(self):
         self._prefix = '#$'
-        self._submit_timeout = rt.runtime().get_option(
-            f'schedulers/@{self.registered_name}/job_submit_timeout'
-        )
+        self._submit_timeout = self.get_option('job_submit_timeout')
 
     def emit_preamble(self, job):
         preamble = [
diff --git a/reframe/core/schedulers/slurm.py b/reframe/core/schedulers/slurm.py
index 7bc3a1a086..f2be99073c 100644
--- a/reframe/core/schedulers/slurm.py
+++ b/reframe/core/schedulers/slurm.py
@@ -132,22 +132,14 @@ def __init__(self):
                                 'QOSJobLimit',
                                 'QOSResourceLimit',
                                 'QOSUsageThreshold']
-        ignore_reqnodenotavail = rt.runtime().get_option(
-            f'schedulers/@{self.registered_name}/ignore_reqnodenotavail'
-        )
+        ignore_reqnodenotavail = self.get_option('ignore_reqnodenotavail')
         if not ignore_reqnodenotavail:
             self._cancel_reasons.append('ReqNodeNotAvail')
 
         self._update_state_count = 0
-        self._submit_timeout = rt.runtime().get_option(
-            f'schedulers/@{self.registered_name}/job_submit_timeout'
-        )
-        self._use_nodes_opt = rt.runtime().get_option(
-            f'schedulers/@{self.registered_name}/use_nodes_option'
-        )
-        self._resubmit_on_errors = rt.runtime().get_option(
-            f'schedulers/@{self.registered_name}/resubmit_on_errors'
-        )
+        self._submit_timeout = self.get_option('job_submit_timeout')
+        self._use_nodes_opt = self.get_option('use_nodes_option')
+        self._resubmit_on_errors = self.get_option('resubmit_on_errors')
 
     def make_job(self, *args, **kwargs):
         return _SlurmJob(*args, **kwargs)
diff --git a/reframe/core/systems.py b/reframe/core/systems.py
index c07e04bca8..a45783e48e 100644
--- a/reframe/core/systems.py
+++ b/reframe/core/systems.py
@@ -314,7 +314,7 @@ def scheduler(self):
 
         '''
         if self._scheduler is None:
-            self._scheduler = self._sched_type()
+            self._scheduler = self._sched_type(part_name=self.name)
 
         return self._scheduler
 
diff --git a/reframe/frontend/cli.py b/reframe/frontend/cli.py
index 75e7386539..fbb384e02d 100644
--- a/reframe/frontend/cli.py
+++ b/reframe/frontend/cli.py
@@ -586,7 +586,7 @@ def main():
     argparser.add_argument(
         dest='ignore_reqnodenotavail',
         envvar='RFM_IGNORE_REQNODENOTAVAIL',
-        configvar='schedulers/ignore_reqnodenotavail',
+        configvar='systems*/sched_options/ignore_reqnodenotavail',
         action='store_true',
         help='Ignore ReqNodeNotAvail Slurm error'
     )
diff --git a/reframe/schemas/config.json b/reframe/schemas/config.json
index 59a8af87da..697004ebbb 100644
--- a/reframe/schemas/config.json
+++ b/reframe/schemas/config.json
@@ -102,6 +102,18 @@
                 }
             ]
         },
+        "sched_options": {
+            "type": "object",
+            "properties": {
+                "ignore_reqnodenotavail": {"type": "boolean"},
+                "job_submit_timeout": {"type": "number"},
+                "resubmit_on_errors": {
+                    "type": "array",
+                    "items": {"type": "string"}
+                },
+                "use_nodes_option": {"type": "boolean"}
+            }
+        },
         "stream_handler": {
             "allOf": [
                 {"$ref": "#/defs/handler_common"},
@@ -382,29 +394,6 @@
                 "additionalProperties": false
             }
         },
-        "schedulers": {
-            "type": "array",
-            "items": {
-                "type": "object",
-                "properties": {
-                    "name": {
-                        "type": "string",
-                        "enum": ["flux", "local", "lsf", "oar", "pbs",
-                                 "sge", "slurm", "squeue", "torque"]
-                    },
-                    "ignore_reqnodenotavail": {"type": "boolean"},
-                    "resubmit_on_errors": {
-                        "type": "array",
-                        "items": {"type": "string"}
-                    },
-                    "job_submit_timeout": {"type": "number"},
-                    "target_systems": {"$ref": "#/defs/system_ref"},
-                    "use_nodes_option": {"type": "boolean"}
-                },
-                "required": ["name"],
-                "additionalProperties": false
-            }
-        },
         "logging": {
             "type": "array",
             "items": {
@@ -579,11 +568,6 @@
         "logging/handlers*/syslog_facility": "user",
         "modes/options": [],
         "modes/target_systems": ["*"],
-        "schedulers/ignore_reqnodenotavail": false,
-        "schedulers/resubmit_on_errors": [],
-        "schedulers/job_submit_timeout": 60,
-        "schedulers/target_systems": ["*"],
-        "schedulers/use_nodes_option": false,
         "systems/descr": "",
         "systems/max_local_jobs": 8,
         "systems/modules_system": "nomod",
@@ -613,6 +597,10 @@
         "systems/partitions/processor": {},
         "systems/partitions/time_limit": null,
         "systems/partitions/devices": [],
-        "systems/partitions/extras": {}
+        "systems/partitions/extras": {},
+        "systems*/sched_options/ignore_reqnodenotavail": false,
+        "systems*/sched_options/job_submit_timeout": 60,
+        "systems*/sched_options/resubmit_on_errors": [],
+        "systems*/sched_options/use_nodes_option": false
     }
 }
diff --git a/unittests/test_schedulers.py b/unittests/test_schedulers.py
index 1f0f76acd3..a0c2317ae2 100644
--- a/unittests/test_schedulers.py
+++ b/unittests/test_schedulers.py
@@ -378,7 +378,7 @@ def test_prepare_without_smt(fake_job, slurm_only):
 
 def test_prepare_nodes_option(make_exec_ctx, make_job, slurm_only):
     make_exec_ctx(test_util.TEST_CONFIG_FILE, 'generic',
-                  {'schedulers/use_nodes_option': True})
+                  {'systems*/sched_options/use_nodes_option': True})
     job = make_job()
     job.num_tasks = 16
     job.num_tasks_per_node = 2