Over the course of the festival, we see both Class 3-E and Class A doing really well in the festival. Gakushuu is coming into his own. Though we see really what Principal Asano truly cares about. While it should be acceptable for the students to give it everything they had, he was disappointed because of the pedagogy he holds dear. Essentially he wanted them to crush Class 3-E and even to go as far as sabotage. We are seeing cracks where it feels he holds that he doesn’t care for his students as much as he thinks he does.
This gets carried over to the final exam, where classes 3-E and A are competing for the top score, and we are shown the issues with cramming. As students who cram, you will only retain your information in the now. As the goal of cramming is only to get a score rather than just learn. Ultimately, teaching the latter is always a superior teaching method rather than a method for getting the best score.
Karma also beats out Gakushuu headlines in the difference in the working environment. Under Koro-sensei, they are shown a different perspective on learning. As assassins, they know how their abilities can help others. He even caters his teaching style to the students strengths, which adds to this. Much like how Karma is held back by his work ethic, Gakushuu is held back by the learning environment he is in. So with Karma being motivated, it fits that he reached the top score.
Though it is clear that Principal Asano is at his breaking point when he is trying to get rid of Koro-sensei. Since he is the main one who threatened his pedagogy. As usual, Koro-sensei is as unphaseable as ever when he is the one competing. Curious to learn about Principal Asano’s backstory.