Portugal has a total of 477 public secondary schools. Some date from the end of the 19th century but the majority were built after 1970, reflecting the period of expansion in the school network and the extension of compulsory schooling. The schools are heterogeneous in terms of building types, architectural features and quality. An assessment of the school buildings has revealed that they require renovation and/or repair work as well as improvements to their operating systems. Portugal's modernisation programme provides for improvements to 330 public school buildings by the year 2015 with a total investment of EUR 940 million, 60% of which will be funded by the European Union (EU), the state government and local governments. The remaining 40% will be secured through bank financing (25%) and through asset building actions and the development of business units (15%). "Parque Escolar, E.P.E.", a government agency, is responsible for planning, managing, developing and carrying out the modernisation programme. It was specially created for this purpose and benefits from administrative and financial autonomy. In July 2007 construction work began on four schools in the cities of Lisbon and Oporto and is scheduled for completion by the beginning of the 2008/09 school year; work will begin on an additional 26 schools after July 2008. These projects will serve as pilot schemes to test and assess planning strategies, programme procedures, design principles and concepts.