Gypsies and Roma are a deeply-rooted component of the social fabric of both Iraq and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), yet they are frequently rendered invisible by the severity of the marginalisation they experience. This ‘erasure’ has severely inhibited their access to education, with several Gypsy communities across Iraq having no access to education at all. Contrasting the situation in Iraq, in Kosovo, the Roma community has received increasing attention over recent years, with national inclusion strategies foregrounding education as a key area for action. Yet many Kosovar Roma children continue to experience discrimination in schools. Gypsies and Roma across Kosovo and Iraq share a unique experience of stigmatisation and social contempt compared to other minority groups, with a particularly entrenched trope being that they do not care about education. This paper will draw upon qualitative, semi-ethnographic research conducted over two months with Gypsies in the KRI, and two months with Roma in Kosovo, to demonstrate the importance these communities place on education, contrary to stigmatising popular narratives. Through a comparison of Gypsy and Roma everyday experiences of post-conflict Iraq and Kosovo compared to their imagined conceptualisations of everyday peace, this paper will illustrate how barriers to education prevent Gypsies and Roma from being able to overcome dire poverty, thereby obstructing social cohesion and peace. Absence of access to education, or access to discriminatory sites of education, actively contributes to the marginality of Gypsies and Roma, reinforcing negative stereotypes and social exclusion. Conversely, intentional, considered access to inclusive education provided by trained facilitators within a broader non-discriminatory environment holds the key to social acceptance, a sense of belonging, and fulfilment of human needs.