Fury in South Africa after schoolchildren's drama exam included question on how they would stage the rape of a baby



The controversial question appeared in a national, final year school exam

It referred to a play about the gruesome rape of a nine-month-old baby

The question was meant to evaluate students' understanding of an 'action metaphor'



Parents and teachers complained, child safety activists remained divided



Teenage students in South Africa were horrified to be asked how they would stage the rape of a baby using a broomstick and a loaf of bread in a drama exam.

Outraged teachers and parents have complained to the national education department about the question which related to a theatre play about the gruesome rape of a nine-month-old baby.

The question, which has been described as ‘downright insensitive and immoral,’ left some of the 17-year-old students in tears while others felt sick to their stomach.

Horrified by exam question: Many in South Africa are outraged about a question in a school exam which asked teenage students how they would stage the rape of a baby using a broomstick and a loaf of bread



The question, in the compulsory national dramatic arts metric exam, was meant to evaluate the students’ understanding of an ‘action metaphor’ in reference to ‘Tshepang,’ a play by South African playwright Lara Foot Newton which is based on the 2001 rape of a baby.

Now education officials are due to meet in the city of Pretoria to discuss the issue and how best to mark the paper in light of the situation.

One senior official specialising in drama education said schools were responsible for teaching children the values of appropriateness, and r ight and wrong.

According to News24, she said: ‘I am going to be making a loud clarion call at that meeting for the head of the person responsible for that question to roll.

‘This is wrong, vulgar and a perpetuation of social injustice and gender stereotypes.’

Symbolic question: The question, which referred to a play called Tshepang (pictured an actor in a production of the play) by South African playwright Lara Foot Newton, was meant to assess the students' understanding of an 'action metaphor'

In a statement, the South African education department said today: ‘Instead of raping a baby or showing the rape or describing the rape, the symbols of a loaf of bread and a broom stick are used to represent and resemble the brutal act of the rape [in the play].

‘The horror and aversion the audience feels is achieved without resorting to an actual rape. The candidate has to work out the best way to achieve this theatrically and symbolically.

‘Nowhere is it expected of the candidate to have to literally describe the actual act of raping a nine-month-old baby.'

‘The Department, however, acknowledges that in examinations, content that invokes negative or adverse feelings or emotions in candidates needs to be avoided. However, given the nature and content of Dramatic Arts, it is assumed that learners are familiar with such passages and would have been trained to deal with their personal emotions relating to the matter.’

Minimize the damage: Education officials were set to meet in Pretoria (pictured) today to discuss the controversial question and decide how best to mark it

One anonymous student reportedly said she was ‘sick to her stomach’ when she read the question while another burst into tears because the question brought back memories of a young sibling who had been abused. Others were said to be extremely embarrassed by their answers.

The play was part of the syllabus for students in their final year of school and the metric exams are compulsory.

The question has divided child safety activists.

Eureka Olivier, the administration director of child rights advocacy group Bobbi Bear said she was ‘absolutely disgusted’.

She said: ‘I do not understand the concept of using a broomstick and a loaf of bread to depict such a thing. What are we teaching our children by having such a question in an exam paper?’