File photo of students of University of Zimbabwe at a protest in Harare, capital of Zimbabwe, March 17, 2015. (Xinhua/Stringer)

HARARE, June 27 (Xinhua) -- The University of Zimbabwe (UZ) on Monday expelled all medical students from its halls of residence after they staged a protest over school fees.

It is reported that the students were not happy about being asked to pay full fees during the third year when they will not be fully based at the university.

The medical students pay 450 U.S. dollars per semester, which is made up of 15 weeks.

The students, whose degree is five years long, had argued that they should not be compelled to pay fees in full especially during the third year when they will not be fully based at the university.

It is in the first two years of study, referred to as the pre-clinical studies, that medical students will be fully based at the varsity.

However, the varsity allegedly insisted that they pay full fees for the two semesters, amounting to 900 dollars. The students were allowed to make payment plans.

"The security department has reported this morning that a gathering of medical students at the Students Union building had started throwing stones, a behavior that the University of Zimbabwe does not tolerate," the UZ said in a notice on Monday.

"The University has now made a decision that all medical students should move out of halls of residence on campus and off campus with immediate effect. All medical students are therefore directed to vacate halls of residence with immediate effect and by no later than 13:15 hours, June 27, 2017."

This is not the first time that the university has been rocked by skirmishes. In 2015, the university was temporarily closed after students staged protests at the campus in solidarity with their lecturers and non-teaching staff who were on strike over delayed pay.

This led university authorities to temporarily close the institution of higher learning for a week.