Extended Education: A Policy with High Social Returns

About the Author: Angélica López-Cuevas is an international consultant and applied researcher focused on social impact evaluation, labor markets, education, and corporate social responsibility in Mexico.

Across Latin America—particularly in Mexico—public debate about the “extended school day” has gotten stuck on the how (funding, schedules, kitchens, facilities) and lost sight of the why: securing better life trajectories. Evidence shows that lengthening the school day —even when implementation isn’t “perfect”— yields measurable gains in learning, health, and socio-emotional wellbeing for children; reduces inequalities; and frees up care time that allows mothers to enter or advance in the labor market, move into formal employment, and, allows households to rely on two incomes. In settings like Mexico, extended schooling can also serve as a lever to strengthen the teaching profession.

What do we mean by “extended education”?

The umbrella concept of extended education refers to offerings that add time and opportunities for learning and care, in and out of school: before-/after-school activities, homework support, sports, arts, school meals, and structured play. Recent scholarship underscores that quality depends on structural factors (infrastructure, organization, leadership) and on process factors (school climate, adult–child relationships, student participation) (Napfli & Schweinberger, 2025). 

What the international (and regional) evidence says

Findings from studies on extended education in Latin America and Mexico are consistent on three fronts:

1. Learning and educational pathways. According to the Inter-American Development Bank’s study on the Extended School Day (IDB, 2023), adding instructional and non-instructional time is generally associated with modest but significant improvements in achievement, persistence, and educational trajectories—provided the extra time is used for high-quality activities aligned with the curriculum. In Mexico specifically, analyses by IMCO (2022) and CONEVAL (2018) indicate that evaluations of PETC found reductions in educational lag, grade repetition, and dropout—particularly in schools that offered school meals—bringing severe educational lag down by 8.8% relative to the average lag between 2006 and 2016. Performance also improved on standardized Reading and Math tests; CONEVAL (2018) reports a 3.1% reduction in low performance, while the share of students at higher proficiency levels (Levels III and IV) rose by 1.2 and 1.6 percentage points, respectively. At the secondary level, the share of students with poor performance fell by 5%.

2. Socio-emotional wellbeing. A growing body of research identifies extended schooling as an ideal space to build socio-emotional skills, agency, and a positive climate, especially when programs prioritize play, the arts, small-group work, and student voice. Murray et al. (2024) note that, while rigorous empirical studies are still relatively few, results are promising when staff receive training to implement wellbeing interventions in extended-time settings; these efforts also generate direct benefits for teachers (IDB, 2023).

3. Health and physical activity. Incorporating physical activity into the extended day (active recess, clubs, organized sports) boosts participation and contributes to transversal competencies. Across Latin America, including Mexico, it also reaches children who lack the financial means to access such opportunities otherwise (World Bank, 2024). European experiences with full-day schools show strong demand and positive effects (Ferrari et al., 2025).

A closer look at Mexico

Mexico has already walked this path with the Escuelas de Tiempo Completo (PETC, “Full-Day Schools”) program, which ran from 2007 to 2021 and offered extended schedules in public schools to millions of children. PETC operated primarily through school-based staffing: regular public-school teachers—usually from the same school—could opt to stay beyond official hours for paid extended shifts. The extended day added about four hours in primary school (grades 1–6) and about two hours in lower secondary school (grades 7–9). Many students arrived early for a school breakfast, as a before-school activity, and, after the regular timetable, they ate lunch at school then remained for an additional block with targeted academic support (especially literacy, science, and mathematics to address learning gaps) and, where staffing allowed, workshops in arts, culture, or sports. A smaller share of activities was covered by teachers from other schools within the same public system who had relevant expertise; external providers were not the norm.

The program proved successful, delivering meaningful benefits for children and families. Yet in 2021 PETC was phased out for political and budgetary reasons and replaced by La Escuela es Nuestra (LEEN), whose design has centered on physical infrastructure rather than strategic program management or extending the school day. Consequently, core PETC components—nutrition, structured learning support, arts, sports, and broader family gains—largely disappeared. While the federal government is not seeking to reinstate PETC, there is sustained public pressure to restore a comprehensive, outcomes-oriented model beyond political preferences. LEEN now includes an “extended schedule” in policy, but implementation is uneven and often lacks the integrated features that made the earlier model effective.

Extended schooling takes two forms: (1) a longer official school day and (2) before-/after-school blocks wrapped around it. Mexico’s PETC historically combined both in a school-led design—breakfast before class, lunch after the regular timetable, and a staffed block for targeted support and enrichment. Though often perceived as an extra burden for teachers, well-designed extended time strengthens practice: it enables thoughtful planning, integrated projects, tutoring and formative assessment, and coordination with specialists without sacrificing the curriculum. Results are strongest when time is not a repeat of lessons but diversifies pedagogy (project-based learning, clubs, sports, arts, reading/science labs) and improves school climate (IDB, 2023).

The Sinaloa case: what we learned by looking closely

According to CONEVAL’s 2018 assessment and IMCO’s 2022 report, seven out of ten full-day schools were located in rural or Indigenous communities (as in Chiapas and Guerrero). In the program’s final year of operation, repetition rates in vulnerable schools fell by 13% compared with the level prior to program launch. Educational lag declined by 17% relative to pre-PETC levels.

An external mixed-methods evaluation of PETC in Sinaloa (López-Cuevas, 2019)—a Mexican state with many municipalities facing high or very high deprivation—found that:

• Demand remained strong among families and school leaders—especially in peripheral urban areas—because the package combined academic support, meals, and learning activities that engaged children and helped households organize their day.

• Time was well used when schools defined a clear portfolio (literacy, playful mathematics, sports, arts) with named leads; by contrast, results weakened where extended time was treated as “more class” or as a childcare service.

• Climate and wellbeing were differentiators for attendance and retention when socio-emotional components—circles for dialogue, guided play, arts—were present.

• School management improved through light-touch support (simple templates, time-use targets, coordination notes), which helped schools internalize cycles of service improvement.

Beyond the nuances, Sinaloa confirmed an intuition: it is the quality of time—not just its quantity—that drives value.

Evaluations of PETC in Mexico documented reductions in undernutrition among vulnerable students. For nearly seven out of ten children in the program, the school meal was their only full, balanced meal of the day—sometimes their only meal. Interviews with children and parents in Sinaloa Evaluation consistently indicated that access to food improved learning, as many students (70%) had not eaten breakfast before joining the program; the change markedly improved their attention and performance.

A gain for mothers: care time that turns into employment

Full-day schooling does more than educate; it redistributes unpaid care time. A World Bank (2024) synthesis reports positive effects of full-day programs on mothers’ labor-force entry and employment rates, with larger impacts among women with less schooling and in poorer areas. Evidence from Chile and Mexico indicates that time freed up by extended schedules reduces care barriers and helps sustain formal employment (though effects on hours worked vary by context).

In other words, where the mother is the primary caregiver, extended schooling functions as women’s employment policy—and therefore as a policy for household income and wellbeing. In countries with wide gender gaps in labor-force participation, such as Mexico (nearly 30%), the social return is hard to match.

A multiplier policy—one that has proven its value

Thinking about the extended day means recognizing that more girls and boys will gradually raise their academic performance—and, crucially, will have access to a nutritious breakfast and lunch. Over time, particularly in regions facing extreme poverty, this translates into better learning through greater energy and concentration derived from improved nutrition. It also means more two-earner households, more mothers in better jobs, and, as a result, more children with real chances of social mobility. Latin America needs more programs of this kind—and fewer political hot takes. The evidence is there; it should be used in favor of the most vulnerable.

Extended schooling extends life chances for those who need them most. This is not an idea; it is a fact. And if a mother can work knowing her daughter is safe, learning, and well-fed, the impact doubles. If teachers have the time to provide calm, individualized support, coordinate, and try new methods, everyone wins.

In Mexico, the question should not be whether to “return” to full-day schools, but how to consolidate an extended-schooling policy with clear standards, genuine student participation, a wellbeing focus, and a gender-aware lens on employment. Mexico already has the legal framework and practical experience. It’s time to use them wisely—and to ensure that every extra hour is a better hour.