Attracting the best and brightest talent is critical

AUSTRALIA will need more than 40,000 extra teachers by 2030 as our population heads towards 30 million.

Our growing population has created teacher shortages, especially in math, science, regional, rural and disadvantaged schools. At the same time, our expectations of Australia's teachers are higher than ever before.

A teacher's main job is to help their students learn. But learning and wellbeing go hand in hand, and teachers play a vital role in helping our kids to navigate the tricky journey from childhood to adult life.

So why would anyone become a teacher? “To make the world a better place” is not enough.

Many jobs and careers do that. And teaching is tough. Even at its best, it demands intellectual smarts and emotional resilience. We hear - correctly - that teachers' workload is often too high. And our best teachers could earn much more in other jobs.

We should start with what makes teaching unique. Teachers can make the world a better place one child or young person at a time.

This impact is much more direct, much more tangible, than most jobs. Teachers change lives, right from day one in a classroom.

Almost all of us can remember a teacher who helped at a critical moment. For myself, going through a tough patch at age 15, it was a PE teacher called Mr Wells.

The next key element - and a big part of?PwC's?school education practice - is to help education systems work better, so that the reality of teaching lives up to the promise.

This means better support for new teachers entering the classroom, and respecting and supporting existing teachers so they are ambassadors for the profession.

Using technology that helps teachers in their daily work, rather than adding to the burden.

When teachers thrive, students thrive.

Teachers need better opportunities for career advancement.

Everyone has choices, and the skills a teacher builds have great value in many other jobs. Rather than “teaching as a life sentence”, we should educate potential teachers that teaching opens doors for them as well as their students.

If you ever get asked why someone should become a teacher, tell them about your own Mr Wells. Because teaching builds amazing skills, opens doors and changes lives.

Chris Matthews leads the education practice at?PwC