The original phrase "the Three Rs" came from a previous speech made by Sir William Curtis in 1795. From reading and writing comes the idea in modern education of literacy, by which we generally mean having the ability to understand ideas expressed through the medium of words. From reckoning and figuring comes the modern idea of numeracy which means being able to understand ideas expressed in the medium of mathematics...
There is no single word, equivalent to literacy or numeracy, that expresses wrighting and wroughting (that is the ability to make – as in wheelwright, shipwright, cartwright). In late 18th and early 19th century the role of schools in preparing children to work in manufacturing industry would have been seen to have had a greater vocational and economic relevance than it would today.
The original three Rs identified by Sir William Curtis MP have equivalents in the Functional Skills of literacy, numeracy and ICT to be found in the modern day English education system. There is an earlier reference to "reading, writing, and arithmetic." It comes from Saint Augustine's "The Confessions of Saint Augustine" AD 401, Book I - Translated by Edward Bouverie Pusey.