Baby rape exam question dropped

THE controversial matric drama question which caused outrage amongst parents, teachers and pupils, will be excluded from the paper, spokesperson for the Department of Education Elijah Mhlanga said on Thursday.

Moderators marked a sample of scripts and decided to exclude the question ‘so as not to disadvantage pupils’ Mhlanga said.

‘We decided the best interests of the pupils were more important than anything else and the department does concede that parts of the question may have been perceived negatively by some learners, depending on their personal backgrounds.’

This decision came after a meeting between the examining panel responsible for setting the drama paper, the internal moderator, Umalusi and provincial education departments.

27 NOVEMBER 2013

Drama about drama paper

A QUESTION in the national matric drama exam paper written on Monday, has shocked and horrified parents, pupils and teachers across Zululand and the country.

Matric drama students sitting for their final exam were asked in a compulsory question to describe the symbolic rape of a baby using a broomstick and a loaf of bread.

The question related to the Lara Foots play Tshepang which was inspired by the rape of a 9-month-old baby, known as ‘Baby Tshepang’, by her mother’s boyfriend in Upington in the Northern Cape.

“He (the character named Simon) acts out the rape, using a broomstick and loaf of bread’ was the extract with stage directions given to the students. They were then asked to describe how they would get Simon to perform this to ‘maximise the horror of the rape’

Pupils, parents and teachers said on Tuesday they were horrified about the question and have complained to the Department of Education.

A letter has been written to the department asking them to award every drama pupil the 15 marks allocated to the question.

The general consensus amongst teachers, pupils, parents and gender activists is that the question is to graphic for high school pupils.

A Zululand drama teacher said, ‘The question was poorly worded and was open to misconception.’

He did however add that the content did incorporate the technical aspects of drama, which include technique, directing technique and staging.

A parent of a local matric pupil said she and her daughter worked through the play and while the content is relevant and enriching, a different extract should have been used.

‘The choice of the line used was inappropriate and would have been better suited for a university exam.’

On Tuesday night Foot told reporters she found the question ‘problematic’. As it was presented, it indicated a misunderstanding on the part of the person who set it.

‘I would really like to know what the proposed correct answer is.’

The question had missed her ‘stylistic choices’, Foot said.

Concerned parents and organisations were of the opinion that the question assumed that by asking the pupils to depict such a thing, they have seen this happen. It is also seen as being incredibly insensitive to the thousands of children who are being sexually abused daily.

A senior Department of Education official said the issue would have been raised at a meeting in Pretoria yesterday (Wednesday) where the marking of the paper would be analysed and discussed.