A new academic year began on Monday for most of the city's students, with schoolchildren having mixed feelings on the first day.

Some said they were excited to meet new classmates and teachers, while others said they were nervous about school work and whether they can get into the secondary school of their choice next year.

Pupils at Erudite Government Primary School, however, had to cope with an incomplete campus, located on a hillside near the former Anderson Road quarry site.

Some parents were concerned about the dust and said they hoped the construction work would soon be finished.

One pupil told reporters he did not find the works to be too noisy.

"Outside you can see the renovation works are ongoing, but inside it's really beautiful," he said.

"Sometimes I can hear the noise, but I don't find it too loud. I can smell a little bit of something, though."

School principal Chan Kwok-keung said the school's facilities were basically complete, and pupils and workers would use different entrances.

"The campus is very big. There may be parts where there remain some minor works. Those are to do with making the campus look better, not with safety," Chan said.

"You can see all the way going in, the environment is safe. We will use designated classrooms for classes."

Education minister Christine Choi said the works were delayed because of bad weather over the summer, and officials deemed the campus was still suitable for use.

"Before the start of the new school year, we had asked experts to conduct an assessment. They ensured the safety of pupils and teachers, so we started school there today smoothly," she told reporters.

Some parents said they were upset that they needed to spend more for the new school year, after the government scrapped a HK$2,500, non-means tested student subsidy.

Choi stressed that officials want to spend limited public resources on the most needy, saying there are still a number of subsidies available for families in financial difficulty.