BATON ROUGE (AP) — After seven decades the state is preparing to replace the GED test

For generations students and adults have tackled the test which is an alternative credential to a high school diploma.

The GED exam stands for General Educational Development.

But starting in January Louisiana students will take a different exam.

A division of Educational Testing Service — called HiSET — will start administering its own high school equivalency test on English, math, science and other areas.

The one key reason for the change — GED officials will soon be offering computer-only tests.

Debbie O’Connor, executive director of The Greater Baton Rouge Literacy Coalition, tells The Advocate (http://bit.ly/16StzaM) some potential test takers would be put off by a computer test.

“That is just not in their comfort zone,” O’Connor said. “With some of our older learners, they just weren’t brought up that way, wired that way.”

Amy Riker, national director of HiSET, said officials in other states had similar worries about the move to computers-only by GED test officials.

“That was causing a lot of concern for folks,” Riker said.

“These are a most needy population of individuals,” she said. “For them not to have access to further their lives to career or college, that was creating a real concern with all the different states.”