Royce Fairbrother was chairman of the nine-member group that proposed a process that would have seen schools closed as early as the end of 2013 after 18-months of consultation.

Yesterday, Education Minister Nick McKim announced the government would push that back so no schools would close before the end of 2015.

Mr Fairbrother said the two-year delay was disappointing, but not surprising.

``Certainly the political side of it is interfering,'' Mr Fairbrother said.

``It would be nice to be able to get politics the hell out of this and decisions to be made in what's in the best interests of our young people rather than political agendas.''

Mr McKim, who is also Tasmanian Greens leader, has denied the timing has anything to do with the election.

Mr Fairbrother was confident some schools would be very interested in financial incentives to voluntarily amalgamate.

``We got the impression that if the environment was right, if the incentives were right, they would be smart enough to see that could be the way to go,'' he said.

He also hoped the Liberal Party, which has promised not to force any schools to close, would follow the recommended process.

Political analyst Richard Herr, of the University of Tasmania's school of government, said the best case scenario for the government would be if enough schools volunteered to amalgamate, allowing the government to avoid forced closures.