In view of the northern hemispheric hegemony in education and in view of contemporary curriculum theory which prescribes an input by students as clients, the authors of two Southern countries, Tanzania and South Africa, surveyed their students’ expectations of a comparative education course, in an attempt to contribute to the establishment of a more meaningful comparative education for the South. The survey revealed startling divergences regarding South African and Tanzanian students’ expectations of comparative education. South African students looked onto comparative education to enlighten the domestic education reform project, and to improve their (students’) teaching strategies. In contrast, the Tanzanian students had a more detached (from their day-today education needs) and purely intellectual view of comparative education, expecting the subjects to contribute to their intellectual moulding and development. The authors relate these differences to contextual differences between South Africa and Tanzania, and conclude that contextual factors should be taken into account when designing comparative education courses.