The Bartimaeus Resource Centre for the Visually Impaired was started in a garage in 2004 with only the most basic equipment and some temporary teachers. There were seven, completely blind or partially sighted, students. By 2005, the center had been registered as a Charitable Trust. Over the next 10 years, the number of students at Bartimaeus would increase steadily, whilst the center was relocated to a number of different rented premises.
In December 2007 it moved moved to rented premises off Horamavu Main Road, and from there it moved to new premises in HRBR Layout, Kalyan Naga. Boys and girls dormitories where rented in separate premises nearby. This is around CMR College (Management course) and Bansawadi Police Station.
At Kalyan Nagar, the center had grown to cater for 24 boarders (12 male students, and 12 female) with several additional students as day students. After ten years Bartimaeus had built up a very good name as a Resource Centre with a wider curriculum and a caring and helpful staff.
In 2015, a bequest from the estate of Mrs Hilda Oaks in the UK made it possible for Bartimaeus to purchase their own property on which the center could operate. Fortuitously a school built by the Lovedale Foundation had been recently vacated in Anagalapura and was available for purchase.
Only a few years old, this architecturally designed school was built to an extremely high standard for more than 200 students. These facilities have provided Bartimaeus with sufficient space for their current 30 students, and plenty of room to grow.
From 2020 to 2022, Bartimaeus has experienced difficulties arising from the COVID pandemic requiring the centre to be shut down and the rescinding of the institutes' ability to receive foreign funding. Bartimaeus is currently working to have their application reapproved and restore the centre to full capacity.
View a more detailed timeline of Bartinaeus here.
