The Minister of Education, Prof Jane Naana Opoku Agyeman has urged school children to focus on their education and go through the necessary stages in life before deciding to make babies.

She said trying to go ahead of oneself often resulted in unpleasant consequences, which could go a long way to affect the quality of one’s future.

Mrs. Opoku Agyeman said these in the La Nkwantanang Madina Municipality while addressing some candidates of this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) moments before the pupils sat for their first paper.

“There is no competition in life; it’s not a race, and even if it’s a race, it’s never for the swift. Take your time, allow your bodies to grow. Get good certificates. Your parents don’t expect you to give them babies; they’ve never asked you for that. The only time you are ready is when you have a job [and] you can take care of that child. Don’t bring this burden unto your own life and unto your parents. It is uncalled for. It will even stop you in how far you can go in life. Give yourself time, pay attention to your studies, get those certificates that take you to places even as you move higher and higher, and when the right time comes, we will all be there to celebrate with you,” the former Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast said on Monday, June 13.

She urged: “…Give yourself time, focus on your studies, focus on your growth – personal, physical, intellectual, spiritual growth. These are the important goals…”

While wishing the pupils “the best of luck” in their papers, she asked them to take a leaf from their errors after every paper, instead of regretting mistakes made, and ensure that they perform better in subsequent ones.

A total of 461,013 candidates are sitting the 2016 BECE, which will be used in the placement of pupils into second cycle institutions later in the year