Why is it important to be computer literate in modern times?

because it's one tool for all.

Nowadays, the knowledge about the use of the computers is equivalent to a hundred of years before is the knowledge about write and read, in fact, many speak about computational analphabetism.

So you should learn to use the computers, mainly because, generally it will make your life less expensive (you can do yourself things instead of paying for be done) and your job opportunities will be better (example: many of the new employee offers requires the use of computers).