The US Department of Education has been left embarrassed after publishing not one, but two spelling mistakes on its Twitter page.

In what was supposed to be an inspiring message, the department tweeted a quote from civil rights activist and historian W.E.B Du Bois.

"Education must not simply teach work — it must teach life. W.E.B. DeBois," the department tweeted.

The irony of the official Department of Education's Twitter account misspelling Du Bois's name was not lost on Twitter users.

One person noted that instead of teaching life, the department should "just focus on teaching spelling for now".

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Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Bill and Hillary Clinton, didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

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Some even pointed out the likeness of the typo to newly-appointed education secretary Betsy DeVos, who has been criticised for being "so unqualified" and for having "disdain" for public education.

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But that wasn't the end of it.

Hours later, the department posted a correction, followed by an apology which also contained a spelling error.

"Our deepest apologizes for the earlier typo," it read.

The apology was taken down and replaced with the correct spelling for "apologies".

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While typos are usually forgiven in the fast-paced world of social media, generally an education department is held to a higher standard.

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Third time lucky, it seems, for the US Department of Education.