Young people have suffered most from the economic and social consequences of the COVID-19
pandemic in Latin America. The the pandemic constituted a highly complex scenario in which emergency remote and virtual education emerged as a useful, though not perfect, tool.

Whether allocating more resources improves learning outcomes for students in low-performing public schools remains an open debate.

We focus on the effect of increased instructional time, which is theoretically ambiguous due to possible compensating changes in effort by students, teachers or parents.

Using a regression discontinuity approach, we find that a reform extending the school day increases math test scores, with a large effect size relative to other interventions. It also improved reading, technical skills and socio-emotional competencies.