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 Today there many campaigns aimed at promoting the importance of completing high school. The government has created laws to insure that the students must attend school until they are of a certain age. However despite these efforts, many people will not receive their high school diploma. According to a census found by Statistics Canada in 1996, 241 570 people out of a total of 437 345 in Newfoundland, have had an elementary education only. Only 43 040 have graduated from high school. This leaves 198 530 people who have never graduated from high school at all. Nation wide a census told us that about 36.8% of the population has not received and high school diploma or a diploma of any kind at all. Sometimes it is difficult to see the exact value of your education. However finishing high school is an asset that everyone with the opportunity should take full advantage of. Just finishing high school alone opens up thousands more opportunities for individuals. When entering a specific field within the job market, it is often required that the applicant has a high school diploma. Therefore, many times without the high school diploma, a person is restricted to a smaller number of occupations for which they are qualified for. High school teaches students to learn. It gives them a background in many different subjects and methods of learning. Learning how to read at a young age will allow the student to be able to learn through reading books for the rest of their lives. Reading, writing, simple mathematics and an understanding of how the world works are all very important skills for a person who is living in our world today. A high school education opens up opportunities for people. It gives student the experience and the confidence that they will be able to use in many life situations. Attending high school gives students opportunities to express themselves and to learn about other people and their ideas. Having the knowledge obtained in high school often gives people confidence later in life when they are dealing with the public. It can give a person confidence in the way that they view their abilities later in life. In order for society to advance our society must be educated. As a high school education is free in Canada, people should take advantage of the wonderful opportunity that they have been given and pursue gathering all the knowledge that they possibly can.  | 