Journalism students in Egypt recently encountered a controversial question during an exam revolved around actress Rania Youssef's infamous revealing dress

The question came as part of a journalism exam at Egypt's Sohag University in which students were asked to explain how they would've covered such an incident. The undergrads were also asked to list questions they'd ask Youssef if they were to interview her on the matter. 

An image capturing the exam paper made the rounds online over the weekend and sparked quite the controversy. 

The exam question divided people on Twitter. Many thought it was unacceptable to even mention the "hot short" dress in an academic paper because it violated social norms. 

Others felt it was completely normal to feature such a question in a journalism exam because it's related to what students learn as part of their courses. 

Some found the question unacceptable

"We only need to feature Sama El Masry's towers in an engineering exam and we'll have completed our education development program."

Others ridiculed it

"Rania Youssef's dress is so important."

However, many thought the backlash was uncalled for

"It's an ordinary question and it makes sense to include it in this subject's exam, especially because it covers a topic that trended on social media at some point."

"It's normal for them to get this question, they're studying journalism"

The university has since issued a statement

In his statement on the matter, Dr. Ahmed Aziz Abdul Men'em, the university's president, said the exam question does not violate academic standards. 

Speaking to Masrawy, the scholar said:

"We discussed this issue with the instructor of this course and he explained that he used this question in order to evaluate the students' ability to cover and critique similar controversial topics."

Abdul Men'em also added that the question comes in line with the subject taught to the students who undertook the exam.

Youssef was charged with "public obscenity" because of that dress

Rania Youssef

In Dec. 2018, Egyptian actress Rania Youssef appeared in a black leotard covered by a sheer overdress exposing her hips and legs at the Cairo International Film Festival.

Lawyers Amro Abdelsalam and Samir Sabri complained to Egypt's chief prosecutor about Youssef's look after it stirred controversy online, which subsequently led to "public obscenity" charges against her. 

Her trial was meant to begin on Jan. 12, 2019, but both lawyers dropped the charges