Maths teacher named Local Hero of the Year

East Auckland schoolteacher Subash Chandar K has been named Local Hero of the Year at the 2025 Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Awards.

He was up against domestic violence survivor advocate Kahira-Rata Olley MNZM and Tāme Iti, a high-profile champion for Māori rights, in the awards category, with winners named at a glitzy gala dinner in Auckland on March 20.

Chandar K, a mathematics teacher at Ormiston Junior College in Flat Bush, is known online as ‘infinityplusone’.

He’s described as a “game-changing educator who’s made a significant impact on students across Aotearoa, creating a popular YouTube channel that provides free, detailed tutorials covering NCEA mathematics”.

Chandar K has made about 1500 educational videos on mathematics for his YouTube channel, which has almost 60,000 subscribers.

His videos are intended to help students learning NCEA Level 1, 2, or 3.

He provides exam walk-throughs to explain what they need to do for achieved, merit and excellence grades.

When he does livestream videos, he’s sent questions by his audience and answers them in real-time.

He doesn’t charge for any of his content and is driven by a desire to help young people become more confident with maths.

Chandar K says he expected Iti or Olley to win the award over himself.

“I went in thinking, ‘surely Tame Iti, he’s probably going to take it out’, and even Kahira-Rata, I looked at some of the work she’s doing and I was like, ‘these folk have been doing things for such a long time’.

“And yes, I’ve been doing it for the last 10 years but honestly I thought I was a bit of an outsider.”

When his name was announced as the category winner, he felt a lot of emotions and decided to dedicate the award to his fellow teachers.

“Not just here in New Zealand, but around the world, because despite numerous challenges we show up every day to make a difference in every child’s life.

“I used this as an opportunity to showcase some of the work the teachers have been doing.

“Overall, it was an amazing experience.”

Chandar K says it was “surreal” to have the chance at the awards night to speak to such luminaries as Sir Ashley Bloomfield, who was New Zealand’s Director-General of Health during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“What was really cool about the night was the number of people who said I’m doing really good work and complemented me on my speech.

“But the best part was the number of parents and grandparents who came up and said, ‘I told my kids and grandkids I was going to the awards, and seeing you win, can I take a selfie with you to show them?’

“I was like, ‘absolutely’. It was such a cool feeling.”

Professor Bev Lawton ONZM was named overall winner of the 2025 Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Awards.

She’s described as a “pioneering force in women’s health in New Zealand”.

“As the founder and director of Te Tātai Hauora o Hine (National Centre for Women’s Health Research Aotearoa), she’s driven critical advancements in cervical cancer screening, maternal health, and indigenous health equity.”