A top official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Sunday called on more efforts in the ideological and moral education of the young after the murders of three teachers last month.

"Particular care should be given to children and their growth as they are successors of the socialist cause," Li Changchun, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, said in a letter to a national conference on youth moral education that ended on Sunday.

Li said cultivating ideals and ethics among young people was "closely linked to the nation's future and fate, the public interests and social harmony".

Promoting ideological and ethical progress among the young was an important strategic decision made by the CPC Central Committee, and progress had been made after a State Council document promoting young people's ethical education was released four years ago, Li said.

Beijing police confirmed on Wednesday that a university law professor of the China University of Political Science and Law was hacked to death by a fourth-year student in a classroom on Tuesday night.

It was the third attack on a teacher in China in a month. In the other two cases, a 16-year-old middle school student killed his teacher with a knife in northern Shanxi Province. Another student of the same age, in eastern Zhejiang Province, strangled his teacher to death.

Liu Yunshan, head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, told the conference that more efforts should be made to create a sound social and cultural environment for the young.

"More healthy cultural products should be made to cultivate values such as patriotism and civilized manners," he said.

Liu pointed out that attention should be given to rural young people who account for most of the country's total minors, especially children in the countryside whose parents worked in cities and those living with their migrant parents in cities.

The conference also honored individuals and units nationwide for outstanding work in youth moral education.

(Xinhua News Agency November 3, 2008)