Kolkata, Mar 16 (UNI) Bengal reaped a bitter harvest following Wednesday's Nandigram excess as examinations went for a toss in face of a violence-marred 12-hour ''Bangla bandh'' today.

The first examination of Higher Secondary, scheduled to begin today, was deferred till April 18.

'' We have prepared our lessons. This means we have to redo the entire exercise, '' Pijush Das, a Higher Secondary examinee, said.

The ICSE and ISC examinations have also been rescheduled.

'' This is my first examination. But I am not able to concentrate.

While Nandigram should not have happened, the bandh affects our examination, '' said Shimanti Mitra, scheduled to appear for her ICSE test.

CBSE, that holds examination in 20 countries, found it difficult to reschedule its fixture. But after requests from authorities in West Bengal, the Board had decided to reschedule the examination to April 7.

But the students could have a tough time as the ICSE, ISC and CBSE could set a new bunch of question papers for these examinations. This could mean reworking on last-minute suggestions.

Rabindra Bharati University, Calcutta University and Jadavpur University have also rescheduled their examinations schedule in view of the bandh.

UNI