Mike Hollings, Chief Executive, The Correspondence School (Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu), New Zealand

Mike Hollings has more than 30 years’ wide-ranging experience in the education sector, from teaching through to management, policy development and review.

For the past four years he has been the Chief Executive of Te Kura (The Correspondence School of New Zealand). Te Kura provided distance education from early childhood to year 13 to more than 24,000 every year. Students come from a wide range of backgrounds with diverse learning needs including students who are alienated from mainstream schooling, inmates, geographically isolated students, students with psycho/social conditions and students in regular schools wishing go study subjects the school is not able to offer.

Prior to joining Te Kura, Mike was the National Manager Analysis and Policy at the Education Review Office with responsibility for evaluating the quality of education in New Zealand schools and was the acting Chief Executive between June 2005 and May 2006.

He was Chief Executive of Te Mangai Paho, the Maori Broadcasting Funding Agency from 1996 to 1999 and has held various senior management positions at Te Puni Kokiri, The Ministry of Maori Development

His other education sector roles have included working as Manager of Planning and Development at Wairarapa Community Polytechnic, Manager of Policy Te Wahanga Maori at the Ministry of Education and teaching at Waikato University and the Hamilton College of Education where he lead the development of bilingual education programmes focusing on the revitalisation of Maori language through the education.

He is of Maori descent from the Ngati Raukawa tribe and in his home community has lead the establishment of Te Kohanga Reo (early childhood Maori language immersion education and Kura Kaupapa Maori (Maori language immersion education in primary and secondary schooling)