About Us


Gender and Child Advancement (GCA) International is a company limited by shares that was registered originally in the UK in December, 2010 as a not-for-profit limited liability company.

It was founded by Justina Ilochi and Lynn Beckett, two inspired women who wanted to look at better ways of ensuring that children and young adults receive the education they need to support their next steps in life. GCA wishes to fundamentally change the culture we have grown to expect in education both in the UK and abroad—the culture that has promoted poor teaching. Click here to read about how we do it.

Their experience of education and Early Years led them to want to help all children to succeed at school and reduce drop-out rates. They travelled to Africa on a budget three times to work with UNICEF on the evaluation of literacy projects and support of the Millennium Goals in schools. They asked Mark Lambert who has similar strong beliefs and values to become a shareholder when they formed GCA International Ltd (GCA).

As an international company, GCA provides education services in the UK and Africa. It is currently working in two African countries: Kenya and Nigeria.

Click here to see our team.

An Overview of GCA services

GCA defines high quality education as education that meets the needs of all children. We work with education providers to ensure children who are:

  • more able
  • have English as an additional language
  • struggling readers
  • display special education needs (SEN), for example ~

* autism

* behaviour, emotional and social difficulties

* complex and severe learning difficulties

* specific learning difficulties e.g. dyslexic, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, motor skills

* moderate learning difficulties

… make exceptional progress. Click here to read more about what we do

Benefits of working with GCA

  • GCA’s cost effective, all-in-one-place services, make it possible for schools to obtain all their training from one source, with minimum disruption to a school’s day-to-day work. Click here to read an outline of GCA’s services
  • GCA training and support for learning is cohesive and well planned, drawing together all the positive aspects of school improvement and school effectiveness to promote positive change in a school’s culture. Click here to read how we can help you
  • Programmes are delivered by professionals and experts who have over 10 years experience as inspectors and over 20 years experience as senior leaders in education. Click here to read the wide range of qualifications of GCA Delivery Partners
  • GCA will work with a school until staff feel able to run with what has been catalyzed, re-membered and learnt. GCA always holds as an aim, the aspiration that children can compete with their peers nationally and internationally, developing resilience and a sense of perspective on themselves and the world (click here to read some reviews).
  • GCA, through its strategic partnerships with awarding bodies in the UK, ensures that most of its specialized programs (click here to read more about GCA programmes and courses) are accredited courses so staff obtain qualifications for their continuous professional development throughout the year.