Hello once again, everybody!!!

As you can see, despite being a new-entry, I'm already being very active on this forum...that's due to the love I feel for this country, Switzerland, which means so much to me, also due to personal experiences.

I would like to start a conversation about Swiss German. I have noticed that it is present in every level of Swiss society (of course, in German speaking cantons), I heard also in schools and universities, while surprisingly not in churches, even on TV national programmes on SF. I think such a presence of Swiss German may cause some problems to those Swiss who speak other languages and learn German in schools or universities. On the other hand, I understand that Swiss German is one dinstinctive attribute do determine a kind of Swiss identity and maybe also to differentiate Swiss and Germans.
In my country, Italy, dialects are also widely spoken, but not in schools, not on national TV channels, not in everyday life but only in families.
So what is Swiss German? Is it a dialect? Is it a language? Why not consider it a national language instead of standard German? How to help those who learn standard German in Switzerland?
Thank you for your attention...Bye