You don’t need a college degree to know a high school diploma is more important than ever.
Employers are looking for a diploma and the uncertainty with jobs not requiring one is high.
Last week Alberta Education Minister Thomas Lukaszuk announced the Province is requiring students to stay in school until they are 17 years old. He said graduating high school is a bare minimum.
Although the Province doesn’t keep statistics it stands to reason most students are graduating at 18-years-old because they are born between January to August, a nine-month period, versus the four months at the end of the year. Those older students are still free to drop out of school in Grade 11 by the Province’s new standards.
So why didn’t the Province mandate students stay in high school while they are 18-years-old? Most would reason at 18 you enter adulthood and aren’t even required to follow your parent’s rules. Under law many things change for teens when they turn 18, for example, they can legally smoke, drink, join the military and vote. However, all those laws fall under the Province’s purview and, therefore, they can also tell teens graduation is truly mandatory. In both Ontario and New Brunswick the law is students must stay in school until they are 18 years old.
An Alberta Education spokesperson said the move was to avoid confusion for those who graduate at 17 and didn’t have to continue high school when they turned 18. However, it is highly unlikely any high school graduate will be returning after they don their cap and gown and receive their certificate in the mail.
The education minister has to back up what he said and make high school graduation mandatory in Alberta – or as close to it as he can, if there are legal impediments. If the age is 18 then most of the older students will be only months away from graduating when they are legally allowed to drop out.
Teachers, principals, parents, school counsellors all need to take the issue seriously. One foothills teen said he left school at 14 years old and no one did anything about it. Even when he was placed on a probation order he was given the option to work or go to school. Even the legal system didn’t uphold the law when it came to school attendance. He was also able to secure a full-time job, even though his employer must have known he was school-age.
Everyone needs to take high school graduation seriously to send the message it is necessary to succeed.
