The question in the dramatic arts matric exam paper was based on the play Tshepang, which depicts the rape of nine-month-old baby.
According to media reports, pupils were asked to describe how they would stage the rape of a baby using a loaf of bread and a broomstick as props.
However, the department explained that the question, which was allocated 15 marks in the paper, was set to assess pupils’ understanding of the concept of “action metaphor”.
“[…] they would not have to literally describe the actual act of raping a nine-month-old baby,” the department said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the department was mulling over whether or not to exclude the question from the exam paper.
“To ensure that no candidate has been negatively affected, the department will mark a sample of the scripts of learners from all nine provinces – as it does with all question papers – after they are written, to establish any possible disadvantage to the candidates,” the department said.
“If there is evidence that candidates have been affected by this question, the question will be excluded from the question paper and the marking guidelines will be adjusted accordingly.”
Tshepang, a play by Lara Foot Newton, was based on real events and was a set work which formed part of the curriculum and class assessment throughout the year.
The department said it acknowledged that content which invokes negative or adverse feelings in pupils needs to be avoided in exams but added that the examiners and moderators responsible for the paper were well within the prescripts of the curriculum.
