Authorities have initiated a programme to inspect fire extinguisher systems established at schools in the Greater Malé Region.

The initiative comes under a joint effort by the Ministry of Education and the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF).

As such the program was launched on November 17 and will see the inspection carried out in schools spanning the capital, Malé City as well as its suburban extension Hulhumalé, to ensure schools have a safe, secure and properly maintained fire extinguishing system.

On Thursday, authorities inspected the fire extinguisher system in Iskandhar School.

The initiative will proceed for a period of two weeks and will see the inspection of 22 schools.

Firemen from the MNDF Fire and Rescue Services will be active in the programme.

This comes at a time fire incidents have been on the rise in the capital region, with the latest fire in Rehendhi School located in Hulhumalé. This caused classes to be suspended.

Classes are currently being carried out online, however, Rehendhi School has since revealed that they hope to resume physical classes on Sunday, following the required reparation work.