Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff named Lady Gowrie, along with several Goodstart Early Learning Centres and two independent centres in the North-West as providers of the pilot program, which will launch this year.

"Investing in early years of education can set our children up for the brightest future possible, particularly those who are vulnerable," Mr Rockliff said,

About 50 children will participate in the pilot across the state, with programs being run in Launceston and Devonport, as well as in the south at Glenorchy, Kingborough and the Derwent Valley.

Mr Rockliff said about 11 early learning centres will pilot the program this year, with children to receive 10 to 15 hours of free pre-school education.

The pilot program was designed after the state government failed to legislate changes to the school starting age, to bring the school starting age down to 4.5 years.

The plan, advocated by the state government as bringing Tasmania in line with other states, was met with criticism by early learning educators in the child care sector, who raised concerns centres would have to close if a cohort of children were taken from their ranks.

Tasmania is the first state to provide this pilot program for disadvantaged three-year-olds, however, federal Labor has pledged that if it wins the federal election it will legislate to provide up to 15 hours of free pre-school for Australian families.

In Tasmania, children are eligible to be part of the pilot if their family has a health care card, is engaged with child safety or if they are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.

"Throughout the pilot, families, service partners, and others involved will trial a range of approaches and provide input," Mr Rockliff said.

The pilot will be rolled out to all eligible three-year-olds from 2020.

The program is funded by the state government, with $2.27 million spent on the co-design of the program.

"Which is backed up by the strong body of evidence that shows a child's experience and environment in their first years will shape their lives," Mr Rockliff said.

"All three-year-olds deserve the opportunity to experience early learning, no matter what their circumstances are."

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