In my opinion reading and writing are more important now than in the past, because technology and globalization are changing our world and today people need to know to read and write well, otherwise they will loose the opportunity to get a good job and to better their life conditions. In this competitive world it is very important to read and write well specially if you are looking for a good job, and nowadays even a simple manual work requires at least basic education which is reading and writing.
The globalization has made our world more competitive, and the persons that do not know how to read and write will not have the same job opportunities than those who have learned to read and write well. In past years, getting job was simpler than today for example to get a job as a bus driver did not require to read and write, because everything was more simple, today to work as a housekeeper requires more preparation than before, because the technology is changing the way we live, and at home we use new technology to do our daily chores and to use it every person have to read instructions.
Everything is changing for example I heard that big companies like Pepsi and Coca Cola are only hiring persons who learned to read and write, even to do the most simple works , because due technology the things became more complicated than before .
Nowadays the globalization and technology are changing the way we live and also the way we work, that is why reading and writing is today more necessary than before.